Lady Infinity
by Resinous Commiphora
Summary: Kagome is a regular girl... until she's kidnapped by a psychotic killer and subjected to mental torture and physical experiments. What will these experiments do to Kagome, and what is the mysterious Infinity technology the madman makes references to?
1. Capture

_**Resinous Commiphora: ** Hello everyone, this is the author speaking. I just wanted to let you know that this is my first story, so go easy on me. Also, I plan on releasing a new chapter every week or two, unless something terrible happens to me. So, without further interruption ever (except for the occasional A/N before a chapter), please enjoy my first fanfiction, Lady Infinity!_

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**Lady Infinity…Chapter One**

**Capture**

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"Wake up little childrens…" 

_Where am I? Why do I feel cold?_ Kagome instinctually reached towards her feet, grasping for the covers that were usually there.

"Little childrens shouldn't sleep so much. Little childrens should wake up early to get ready for school."

_Oh God, I remember where I am._ Kagome opened her eyes. Looking down on her was an ugly man with disheveled hair. He looked to be about forty years old. He said, "Ah, the childrens are awake. Hurry up and get dressed childrens, school will start soon." The man limped away. Instantly Kagome thought of Igor, Dr. Frankenstein's assistant. Upon thinking about it, she realized the man kind of looked like Igor_. I wonder if anyone else thought he looked like Igor._

Kagome snapped out of the daze she was in. _Ok, let's see where I am._ She looked around and saw that she was in a dark, oppressive room. The walls were made of moldy brick, the fireplace was made of moldy brick, even the door, though not made of brick, was moldy. There was no furniture in the room, unless you counted the lone light bulb hanging from the ceiling that offered the only light. There were no windows.

To clear her mind, Kagome began to go over what had happened the previous day.

----------

She had been running towards the bus stop with her best friend, the same way they usually ran for the bus stop, sometimes catching the bus, sometimes having to wait for the next one at a nearby coffee shop. Kagome's best friend had been running especially fast that day.

"Kagome, hurry up! we're going to be late for the bus!"

"I'm coming!" Kagome had answered, "Why the heck are you running so fast? If we miss this bus, we just have to get on the next one!"

"No, not today," Kagome's best friend had answered, "today we have to take this bus!"

They ran faster and faster. They passed all the little antique shops that lined the little street that ran from their private school to the nearest bus stop. They crossed the bridge that went over the Rokuno River, the river that ran through the center of the city, the river the city was named after. It was after they had crossed the bridge that Kagome had first seen the crowd of people outside of the bank.

Kagome remembered thinking _Wow, there sure are a lot of people lined up outside that bank, maybe they're giving away free microwaves to new customers?_

As they approached the crowd, Kagome's best friend didn't slow down. He just cut directly through the crowd "Follow me," he had said. But Kagome lost sight of him, so she stopped in the middle of the crowd to see if she could see the path he had taken.

"You! Come with me!" Someone grabbed Kagome's arm. She turned around to slap the man, but then she saw the gun. She froze. Mostly from the sight of the gun but also because the man wielding it looked like someone had tried to caress his face with a chainsaw.

That was when Kagome realized that she was now a hostage in a bank robbery.

It had all gone so fast after that, or so it seemed. The bank robber held his gun to her head, just like in the movies, and said "Ok, childrens, get away from me or the other childrens dies."

The crowd cleared a path in haste, all afraid for their lives and the life of the hostage.

When the size of the path was big enough, the bank robber guided Kagome along it, always breathing on her neck, never removing the gun from her head. Kagome said "Please, where are you taking me? Can you please let me go?"

"I'm taking you somewhere special," the bank robber whispered in her ear loud enough for only her to hear, "and no, the childrens can't be let go." They reached the end of the path through the crowd. The robber turned around and said "All the childrens should stay where they are… or the other childrens might get a new place to put her lollipop."

Kagome remembered the faces of the people nearest to her. She remembered how their faces went white. She remembered thinking _These people are not going to move. And if they aren't going to save me, who will?_ Something clicked in Kagome's mind, and she looked around desperately for her friend. He was nowhere to be seen. _Oh no, he didn't notice that I disappeared!_

"Come, childrens, the chariot awaits…" The robber pushed her along the sidewalk and abruptly turned left down an alley between a bagel shop and a hair salon. Down the alley they went, Kagome wondering what was to become of her, when they stopped. She started to look around, but then all went black.

----------

Kagome looked up. Igor was staring at her.

Staring…

Staring…

Kagome opened her mouth, hoping she wouldn't sound as scared as she was, "What is it?" After she said it, she realized she shouldn't have.

"Little childrens must not speak unless spoken to." Igor was angry. He took a step forward, "Little childrens should just get dressed and go to school!"

"Please, I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!" Kagome cringed away from the hideous man.

"I won't kill you. How can little childrens learn in school if they're dead?"

He took another step forward.

Kagome looked around, desperate to find some weapon to defend herself if need be, but there were none.

He took another step forward.

Kagome wished that she had never insisted on organizing her locker after school before she left. Maybe if she hadn't done that, they would have been at the bus stop long before the bank robbery had happened.

Another step. He was close enough now that she could hear his sickly breathing.

Another step. Kagome closed her eyes and screamed.

Darkness.

----------

She woke up. Her right leg hurt a little. She looked down at it and saw that there was some sort of handcuff around her ankle, only instead of there being another handcuff on the other end, there was a chain attached to a big metal ball. _Just like in those old jails_, she thought. She looked around. There was a pile of something white on the old wooden floor a few feet away from her.

_How long was I asleep? How long have I been in this room? Is it day or night? _Not finding the answers to her questions, Kagome decided to check the rest of her body for damage. Her legs were fine, except for the ball-and-chain, but her shoes were gone and her blue jeans were dirty. _I won't ever wear these jeans again. _Her favorite shirt, the one with the rubber duck on it that said "I'm a QUACK", was fine, except there seemed to be some dried red-brown substance going down the back. The same substance was caked on the back of her head. _Oh God, blood. Where am I bleeding? _Kagome felt the back of her head. There were two distinct bumps that hurt to be pressed.

That was when Kagome realized there was a bracelet on her right wrist. It was made of gold, or at least looked it, and it had a small charm attached to it. The charm had a strange symbol that looked like a sideways letter "8". _Ah, the symbol for infinity._ Kagome had just learned about it in math class last week.

_I'm hungry. How long have I been in here?_ Kagome got to her feet, tried to take a step toward the white blob on the floor, and fell. "Ouch! This ball's heavier than it looks." _Ah! I hope Igor didn't hear that. Oh please, I don't want another lump on my head. _She waited a few minutes in silence, barely breathing, straining to hear Igor as he approached, but he didn't.

Slowly Kagome got to her feet again. Slowly she tried to take another step forward, testing the ball, finding out just how much it took to get it to move. When she was certain she could walk safely, she limped towards the white blob. As she got closer, she saw that it wasn't a white blob, but a pile of white cloth. _Great, maybe it's a blanket. I'm so cold._ Kagome reached out and picked up the white cloth. As it unfolded, it took on its true form. It was a night gown. _Oh no… what am I supposed to do with this?_ Kagome dropped it back onto the floor and sat down.

A few minutes passed. _Wait, I know how to tell what time it is!_ Kagome stood up again and inched towards the fireplace. When she reached it, she got down on her knees, stuck her head under the chimney opening, and looked up. There was no light. _Darn, it's either clogged, or it's night already. I wonder if anyone is looking for me. Do they know I was the hostage?_

Kagome backed out of the fireplace. She began to examine the walls, looking for places where she might remove some bricks and escape. No weaknesses on the fireplace wall. She moved on to the wall to the left of the fireplace, the wall opposite the one with the door. _No… no… no… gosh, you think in a building this old and moldy the bricks would be falling down all over the place!_

Kagome continued on. She was about to switch over to the wall opposite the fireplace when she saw it. A brick that looked like it could be removed. She wiggled it. It moved a little. She wiggled some more. It popped free. _Aha!_ Kagome looked through the hole. The room on the other side looked exactly like the one she was now in.

Then she saw the skeleton in the corner.

The one with the white nightgown on.

"NO!" She screamed. The brick dropped to the ground. She turned around, and there was Igor.

Staring…

More screams.

_Oh God, oh God, oh God, I don't want to die. _Kagome began to cry.

"That childrens was a bad childrens." Igor was almost smiling, "The other childrens were bad, too. I hope you are a good childrens."

Silence, and then "How can I be a good childrens…?" _Maybe this lunatic is just misunderstood… Maybe I can reason with him… Maybe he's not a lunatic…_

"A childrens can be a good childrens by putting on the magic dress of wonder." When Igor said the last part, his whole face lit up.

_Oh God, he is insane. God help me. _ "And... and then what?" she asked.

Igor looked at her, his eyes moving all over her, probing her, "A childrens can only be a good childrens if she does everything I say." Igor took a step backwards and said, "I will be back soon. Good childrens should not try to escape. The walls have eyes." He shut the door.

Kagome was frozen with fear. _The walls have eyes? What does that mean? Are there hidden cameras everywhere?_ She looked around the room. Her eyes settled on the base of the light fixture. It didn't seem old like the rest of the room.

It seemed like it was watching her.

Kagome walked over to it. She judged the distance, trying to determine whether or not she could reach it, and whether or not she could break it, and whether or not she could escape before Igor noticed it was broken.

She looked at the nightgown. "The magic dress of wonder…" She thought aloud, "Why in the world did he call it that?"

She walked over to it and picked it up. It was practically see-through. _Well, I guess I have to put this on. _She looked up at where she was convinced the camera was hidden and said, "You'd better not look at me changing!"

Then, still not sure whether or not anyone was looking, Kagome began to undress. _At least I don't have to take off my underwear._

When she was done changing, she decided to get a better look at the room next to hers. She walked over to the hole in the wall and looked inside. There was the skeleton with the white dress, still propped up in the corner. But what was that in the middle of the room? It looked kind of like a blue teddy bear lying face down to Kagome. She glanced around the rest of the room. There was nothing else.

Kagome picked up the brick from where it fell when she dropped it and placed it back into the hole. She turned around and sat down in the corner, wondering what would happen next. Her thoughts wandered, and she fell asleep.

----------

Kagome woke up. "Ah, how long was I asleep?" She crawled over to the fireplace and looked up. There was light coming in through the top. She could see the sky. It was a beautiful, cloudless autumn day. _Oh, how I wish I was outside…_ Kagome's stomach rumbled. _When was the last time I ate anything?_ She turned around and noticed a tray of food sitting close to the door. She went over to it and investigated.

There was a bowl of something brown and gloppy that kind of looked like oatmeal, and there was a glass of water. Kagome didn't care that the oatmeal slop tasted like sawdust. She didn't care that the water smelled like sulfur. She ate and drank it all. "Ahhh," Kagome sighed contentedly, "I feel so much better."

There was a sound as the door began to open. Kagome backed up, half hoping the door was being opened by her rescuer.

It was Igor.

"Time for school, childrens…" Igor was wearing a stained white apron that made his hideousness only more hideous. There was a bulge in one of the pockets. Kagome guessed that was where the gun was. "Follow me."

Kagome stood up and followed Igor out the door. They walked down a narrow hallway and climbed a flight of stairs that made so much noise Kagome thought they were going to fall apart any second. They stopped in a room that seemed to be the attic. Two of the walls were slanted towards the middle of the ceiling. Of the other two, one contained the door they had just passed through, and one had a window with a white sheet tacked up above it. Kagome could not make anything out through the sheet.

"Sit down childrens." Igor motioned to a single chair that was situated in front of a blackboard.

Kagome sat down.

Igor walked over to the blackboard and smiled as he took a large piece of white chalk out of his pocket. "Hello childrens," Igor looked around as if the entire room was full of students, "My name is Alexander Dollope. I am a scientist," he looked directly at Kagome, "and you are my experiment."


	2. Analysis

**_Resinous Commiphora: _ **_Hello again, everyone. Did you enjoy the last chapter? I hope you enjoy this one even more. Let me know if there's anything I can improve. I'm eager to better my writing skills, which I can't do without criticism. Anyway, enjoy!_

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**Lady Infinity…Chapter Two**

**Analysis  
**

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"What?" Kagome stared unbelievingly at Alexander Dollope, the person she had until just moments ago known as Igor. "But I don't want to be an experi-" 

"Silence! You will be my experiment. You will be a good childrens and let me experiment on you."

Kagome slumped in her chair. _What does this man want with me? What if... what if he turns me into a She-Frankenstein? Oh no, how will my family ever be able to take me back if they can't even recognize me?_

Alexander turned towards the blackboard and wrote 'Alexander Dollope' in the fanciest cursive Kagome had ever seen. _Maybe he's not insane like I thought; you can't be insane and still write your name like that. Maybe I can pretend to be friends with him and make him let me go. _Alexander finished writing his name, turned around, and said, "Now memorize my name. Say it out loud like a good childrens."

Kagome obeyed. "Alexander Dollope," she paused for a second, "Hey, like a dollop of Daisy?"

"No! Not like a dollop of Daisy! Like Alexander Dollope!" He seemed angry. He turned around, underlined his name twice, and then began to write something below it. Kagome had a hard time making it out until he was done and he moved out of the way. Then she could read it.

"Independent, Flying, and Intelligent Individual Technology…" _What in the world is that?_

"Yes." Alexander underlined the 'In' from Independent, the 'F' from Flying, the 'In" from Intelligent, the 'I' from Individual, and the 'T' and 'y' from Technology. He turned around and said, "Infinity. Yes… that was what I was working on. Everything was peaceful." Igor looked slightly depressed. _Great, he's not crazy. He just has some issues he needs to work out. If I can just act like a good hostage until I can escape, I should get out of here alive._

"I was friends with all of the magical fairies and pixies that lived in my cubicle with me." _Oh no, he's really, REALLY crazy! _"They helped me with the formula. Yes, we came up with it together." Alexander put the chalk down on the blackboard's little shelf, "But then they decided to get rid of the fairies and pixies. They got an exterminator." He wrung his hands in anguish, "The fairies and pixies were massacred. All of my friends… gone."

Kagome, eager to play the good hostage, said empathetically, "How sad."

"Yes, it was sad. I was sad. That's why I did it. I stole the secret formula. I burned the building down. I hid here, and began searching for experiments."

"Experiments…? What are you going to do to me?"

"I'm going to run some tests to see if you are suitable. And then, I'm going to inject you with the magical formula." Seeing Kagome's scared face, he added, "It won't hurt. You won't feel a thing."

This added explanation did not lessen Kagome's fears. Her mind was already working, wondering if the skeleton in the room next to hers failed the tests… or passed them.

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Back in her room, Kagome wondered what was to become of her. _I have to escape. Somehow I have to escape before he can do something to me._ She looked around the room. It was the same as before. She decided to check the last two walls for loose bricks. There were none.

A noise came from somewhere. _What was that?_ Again. _What's that noise? What is it?_ She began to walk around the room, trying to find the source. It seemed to be coming from the room with the skeleton in it. Kagome walked over to the brick she could remove, and carefully pulled it free. Then, holding her breath, she looked in.

Alexander was dancing with the skeleton.

Silently, white as her nightgown, Kagome put the brick back into its hole and stepped back. _Oh God, help me to not die._ She stumbled over to her favorite corner, sat down, and hugged her knees. She cried until she fell into a daze of half sleep.

----------

When Kagome woke up, another tray of food lay next to the door. This time there was a chicken leg and a slice of bread with the bowl of mash. Kagome ate. When she was done, she walked over to the fireplace and looked up. It was still light out. "I wish I knew what time it was."

There was a knock at the door. It opened, and in stepped Alexander. "How did you sleep?" He asked, eager to know.

"Fine. I slept fine."

"Good, good. That means you have already passed three tests."

Kagome was in shock. "What? How? How many are left?"

"There are seven in all."

_Oh no, I have to figure out whether that other girl died from passing or failing the tests. Otherwise, how will I know what to do? _"Please, did the girl in the room next to mine pass all of the tests?"

"Yes," He smiled. It was a fake smile.

"And what happens to girls who don't pass the tests?" Kagome was desperate now.

"I don't know. All of the childrens so far have passed all of the tests."

_Ok, I have to try to fail the tests. _"Well then, how did I pass the first three tests? I wasn't aware that I was being tested already."

"The first test," Alexander held up one finger, "was whether or not the childrens could eat. The childrens passed. The second test," Another finger went up, "was to see if the childrens could walk up stairs. The childrens passed that, too."

_What kind of stupid tests are these? How am I supposed to fail those?_

Alexander held up a third finger, "The third test was to see if the childrens could sleep. The childrens also passed that test." He put his hand down.

"What are the other four tests?" Kagome had to know what they were. That was the only way she could fail them for sure. _What if they're things like whether or not I can breathe or go to the bathroom? Oh, I hope not._

"The childrens will find out the next two tests now. Please follow me."

Kagome followed. They ended up in a room with two circles painted on the floor. One was red, and the other was green. There was nothing else in the room.

Alexander motioned towards the green circle, "Please stand there."

Kagome obeyed.

"Good, the childrens can stand inside green circles. You pass the fourth test."

_No! How was that a test? Ok, I can't do what he tells me to do. That's the only way to fail._

Alexander now motioned towards the red circle, "Please," he said.

"Please what," Kagome said, anxious to know what she was supposed to do so she could not do it.

"Please stand in the red circle," he motioned towards the red circle again.

_Never._

Kagome walked towards the red circle. But then, just before she stepped inside, she pretended to run into an invisible wall. _Ha! Take that!_

"Good."

_What?_

"The childrens can not stand in red circles. The childrens passes the fifth test." Alexander looked extremely pleased with himself.

_No… no! What kind of insane lunatic would devise these tests?_ Out loud Kagome said, "Oh, isn't that wonderful. Maybe you could just tell me the last two tests, and I could tell you whether or not I would pass them? It would save some time.

"Ah, the childrens just passed another test! The childrens can say the word 'wonderful'!" Alexander was almost dancing with joy.

"I… I see…" Kagome felt like lying down and dying right there, just so she wouldn't have to die later, as she was now sure she would.

Alexander clapped his hands and said, "Passing the sixth test now will save some time. The childrens can go back to their room and get some rest."

"But please, can't you tell me what the seventh test is?"

"No, it's a surprise." Alexander walked out the door and motioned for Kagome to follow. She did.

Once Kagome was alone back in her room again, she decided she had to try to escape at leas once. _The other girls must have tried to escape. But he didn't kill them, because they still passed all seven tests._ Kagome looked around, trying to think of what she might be able to do. _I wonder if I could reach that camera if I stood on my ball. _Kagome tried to guess whether or not she would be able to reach it, but she couldn't be certain either way. She had to try.

_If I can reach it, what am I going to do then? I have to destroy it somehow. I know! The brick! I can smash it with the brick! And then I can use the brick as a weapon if I run into Alexander._

Kagome decided to try immediately. She hoped Alexander was in the bathroom or somewhere where he wouldn't be able to see her break the camera and escape.

She went over to the hole in the wall, took the brick out, and tried to hide it behind her back where the camera wouldn't be able to see. Then she slowly walked towards the middle of the room until her ball was dragged directly under the light, and she turned around, always keeping the brick hidden. _Here goes nothing… _Kagome stepped onto her ball with one foot, then the other. She could touch the ceiling! Using her left hand to balance herself by pressing against the ceiling, she slowly raised the brick, took aim, and smashed it down on the camera with all the force she could.

The camera's enclosure broke into a thousand tiny pieces which scattered all over the floor. There was only one problem.

The enclosure was empty.

The camera wasn't in it.

Kagome panicked. She lost her balance and fell to the ground. "Ouch!" She quickly pulled herself to her feet and went for the door. _If the camera wasn't there, it must be hidden somewhere else. I have to get away before that maniac tries to stop me._ Kagome dashed for the door. She grabbed the doorknob with her sweaty hand and tried to turn it.

It was locked.

In desperation, Kagome threw all of her weight against the door, hoping it would open, hoping her botched escape plan would somehow still work.

The door didn't move.

Kagome decided to try to rip a hole through the wall separating her room and the one with the skeleton. _That door shouldn't be locked. That poor dead woman wouldn't try to escape._

She ran over and began tearing at the bricks. They came down in large chunks, four or five at a time. Once the hole was big enough, Kagome ducked down and stepped through. The room was the same as it had looked every time she had seen it, except the skeleton in the corner now had the blue teddy bear sitting on her lap. It looked like there was something written on it's chest, but Kagome couldn't see what it was.

The door in this room wasn't locked. It opened onto the hallway that Kagome had walked down twice already. She looked both ways, thought for a second, and decided to go left, the direction that didn't lead toward the stairs that went up to the attic.

As she ran down the hallway, Kagome thought about what would happen if she did run into Alexander. _Could I kill him if I had to? Will I even run into him? _She reached the end of the hallway. It was a dead end. _Darn, were there stairs going down next to the stairs going up? I can't remember._ Kagome turned around and started running towards the other end of the hallway.

That end only had the stairs going up. _How in the heck do I get out of this place!?_

She heard something.

Someone was coming down the stairs.

Kagome quickly turned and opened the door closest to her. It was a broom closet. She hurried inside, closed the door quietly, and waited.

The footsteps reached the bottom of the stairs. They turned right and walked down the hallway towards Kagome's room. _I have to get out of here before he finds me._

The footsteps stopped. They turned around. They were coming back!

Kagome waited. _If he opens this door, I'll hit him over the head with the brick._

The door opened, and Kagome lunged forward screaming. She brought the brick down on nothing. Alexander sidestepped out into view from behind the door and pointed his gun at Kagome. "It seems the little childrens thought they could escape." He motioned for her to drop the brick, which she did, "little childrens should know that they can't escape. Not ever."

Kagome was defeated. She dropped her head in despair, and sat down on the floor. _Why did he stop and turn around? How did he know I was in there?_

"I can read your mind."

_How did he know I was going to- _Kagome stopped, "What?"

"I can read your mind." He said it as if it was obvious, and why hadn't she figured it out sooner?

_You can't read my mind. You're just insane._

Alexander smiled, "You can't read my mind. You're just insane."

"Oh anyone could have guessed I was thinking that," Kagome retorted. _Geese like to sift flour through yards of burlap._

"Geese like to sift flour through yards of burlap." Alexander said it calmly. He motioned towards the stairs, "Go up. It is time for the seventh test."

Kagome was in shock. _How am I supposed to think anything by myself if... wait, does that mean he knew I tried to fail that one test on purpose?_

"Yes. But you see, little childrens, the first six tests are always different. I just make them up as I go to see the childrens squirm. The seventh test is all that matters." He motioned towards the stairs again, "Go up."

Kagome was speechless. She'd never had a chance against this lunatic. She could never formulate an escape plan if he could read her mind. She slowly walked up the stairs, expecting only death at the end.

They reached the top of the stairs, but the room the entered was quite different from the room Kagome remembered. This room was very large. It looked like a large abandoned cathedral. Everything was coated in dust and cobwebs, except for a very large and complex looking piece of machinery in the center of the room. It had so many knobs and dials that Kagome couldn't even begin to count them. Attached to the machine, and off to one side, was a table about the size of a twin bed.

Kagome turned around, "How is this room here? Where's the small attic?" Kagome asked, more confused than scared at this particular point in time, "And what the heck is that?"

Alex stopped. He lowered the gun, and said, "That," he pointed at the large machine, "Is the final test. As for where we are, it's a secret…" He grinned.

_Sure it's a secret, you lunatic._

"Heh, yes, I am a lunatic." His grin got even bigger as he pointed once again at the machine, "Now go lie down on that table over there."


	3. Notice

**_Resinous Commiphora: _**_Well, you should know the drill by now. One little thing, though: There won't be a new chapter next week. This is because I will not have enough time to write one before then, what with Thanksgiving and all. Just thought I'd warn you in advance! I look forward to seeing you in two weeks._**  
**

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**Lady Infinity…Chapter 3**

**Notice**

* * *

Inuyasha reached the bus station and stopped, "Wait till you see what I've got planned… you're going to be so surprised." He turned around. Kagome wasn't there! "Kagome!? Where are you?" Inuyasha looked around frantically, but Kagome wasn't anywhere. "Darn, she probably got lost in that crowd back there. I'll just wait for a while. She'll have to get here eventually." 

One hour passed.

"God, where is she? She's so stupid… probably spaced out in the coffee shop. I'd better just go get her." Inuyasha walked briskly toward the coffee shop that he and Kagome frequented.

When he arrived, he walked in and looked around. He couldn't see Kagome, so he went up to the counter to ask if she had been here. When he reached the counter, Sango, the cashier, looked up.

"Well, hello Inuyasha! Where's Kagome?" She smiled at him. Sango's shift was the only time Inuyasha and Kagome ever went to the coffee shop. Mostly because it was her shift when school let out and they missed the bus, but also because they enjoyed Sango's company.

"I don't know. I'm looking for her. She must have gotten lost somewhere on the way to the bus stop." He paused and looked around again, "She really hasn't been here?"

Sango leaned forward, "She's lost? That's terrible! Why don't you call her cell phone?"

"Kagome doesn't have a cell phone. Her parents spend so much money to get her into that stupid private school, there's none left over for anything else she wants."

"Oh," Sango didn't go to their school. She went to a public school on the other side of town. She didn't know how expensive everything was. "Do you want me to help you look for her?"

Inuyasha thought a second, then, "No, that's ok. She's probably just shopping somewhere or other. She's probably forgotten all about me."

"I see, yeah, she would do that. Ok then, make sure you call me when you find her, and if you decide you really do need me to help you look, don't hesitate."

"I will, and I won't. See you later." Inuyasha turned around and walked towards the door.

"Bye," Sango waved, "Good luck."

Inuyasha waved back and walked out the door. He decided to head back towards the center of the city where all the antique shops were. Kagome enjoyed looking at all of the old furniture, even though she couldn't buy any of it. Maybe she was there now.

As he approached the bank where the crowd had been, he saw policemen everywhere. They were asking everyone questions, and writing everything said down on little pads of paper.

Inuyasha walked up to one and asked, "Excuse me, what happened? Why are there so many police here?"

The policeman dismissed the distraught old lady he had been questioning, turned towards Inuyasha, and answered, "There was a bank robbery here earlier. It seems to have happened at about three o'clock."

"Three o'clock? That's when we passed through here!"

The policeman looked interested, "Oh? And what did you see?" He got his little pad of paper and pen ready.

"Just a crowd outside the bank," Inuyasha shuffled his feet nervously, "Say, nobody was hurt, were they? Nobody," he swallowed, "was shot…?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that happened."

"Ah, thank goodness." Inuyasha was so relieved.

"One hostage was kidnapped, however."

Inuyasha's heart stopped. "How did the hostage look? Was it a teenage girl with black hair wearing blue jeans and a tee shirt with a rubber duck on it?"

"Why, yes, it was. How did you know that? I thought you didn't see anything." The policeman looked at Inuyasha with suspicion.

"I didn't. The kidnapped hostage is my best friend. We were running to the bus stop. We ran through a crowd of people in front of the bank, but I didn't think there was a bank robbery or anything happening." Inuyasha's legs were shaking. Kagome was kidnapped by a bank robber! What was going to happen to her?

"Well, she was kidnapped." The policeman was very serious now, "If you can tell us anything else, please do."

"I don't know anything else. I mean, besides her name and her address. And her favorite flavor of ice cream. God, how did she let herself get kidnapped?"

"Well, she had a gun pointed at her head if it makes you feel any better. She couldn't have escaped being kidnapped, even if she had wanted to."

Inuyasha couldn't believe what he was hearing. He gave the policeman Kagome's full name and address, walked over to a bench across the street, and sat down. He thought for a long time about why he hadn't waited for Kagome to catch up. He wondered if that would have made any difference. He mumbled under his breath, "If I was there, I would have beaten that guy to a pulp. Why didn't I wait for her?"

After a while longer, he stood up and walked back towards the bank. When he got there he looked around. Most of the police had left. The ones who remained were taking pictures of everything. There was one policeman, however, who was not.

The lone policeman was standing off to one side. He wasn't wearing a uniform. He was dressed very casually. His eyes were shut and he had his fingertips pressed against his temples. He looked like he was in intense concentration.

Inuyasha walked over and stared at him. He didn't open his eyes. He didn't even move. After a while he turned and started walking away, never opening his eyes or lowering his hands. Inuyasha was intrigued. Who was this man? How does he think he's going to get anywhere safely with his eyes shut?

Inuyasha decided to warn the man of his folly, so he tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, mister, but shouldn't you open your eyes? I mean, you don't want to run into anything or get hit by a car do you?"

The man didn't reply, or even seem to acknowledge that Inuyasha had tapped him on the shoulder and talked to him. This made Inuyasha angry.

"Hey! Look at me!"

The man did nothing.

"Fine! Go get hit by a car! I'll be glad when you're dead!" Inuyasha crossed his arms. But he kept watching the man. If he was really going to get hit by a car or anything, Inuyasha would run up and tackle him out of the way.

The man kept walking. He walked straight forward until he got to an alley between a hair salon and a bagel shop. He stopped, turned, and started walking down it.

Anxious to see what in the world this strange man was up to, Inuyasha followed. When he could see the man again he stopped. The alley was a dead end, but the man didn't seem to notice. He was walking straight for a brick wall and a bunch of garbage cans.

"Hey! You're going to run into a bunch of garbage!" Inuyasha knew the man couldn't hear him, "God, he must be deaf or something." Inuyasha watched the man walk ever closer to the garbage cans. They were full of old, moldy food. "It'll be fun to see what that jerk does when he's covered in garbage." Inuyasha snickered.

The man stopped. He seemed to sway for a moment, and then collapsed. Inuyasha was startled. He ran up to the man and shook him, "Hey, wake up."

The man stirred. His eyes opened, "What? Who are you? Where am I?" The man seemed very confused.

"You're in an alley. I followed you here from the bank. What's wrong with you? Do you have some kind of brain disorder?"

"No, I don't. There is nothing wrong with me." The man looked around, "Did I really start out at the bank?"

Inuyasha was a little ticked off, "Yes, and if there's nothing wrong with you, then why the heck weren't you listening to me? Are you an idiot?"

This made the man angry, "No, I'm not! I'm a psychic detective. I was trying to find where the girl was taken. Thank you for your concern. I'm quite alright now."

"What the Hell are you talking about," Inuyasha almost felt sorry for the senile man. Almost. "You're a psychic detective like on TV? The ones who never really do anything but guess and repeat what was already said?" Inuyasha crossed his arms.

The psychic tensed up and replied, "No, I'm not one of those fake, fame-loving psychics. I'm a real psychic."

Inuyasha watched the senile man for a second and said, "Well, if you're a psychic, then what was the hostage wearing? She was my friend, so I'll know if you're wrong."

The psychic shut his eyes, "She was wearing blue jeans, and a t-shirt with a rubber duck on it."

"Oh, sure, everyone knows that," Inuyasha said, "You're a joke."

The psychic began to sweat. He fiddled his hands and said, "No I'm not! I'm not, Mommy! It's real!" He paused, looked startled, and said, "Sorry about that. I had some problems with acceptance as a child. To prove myself, would you like me to tell you what color underwear the hostage was wearing?"

_Ha, you just dug you own grave. Kagome wasn't wearing any underwear. She had swimming for P.E. today._ "Sure, tell me." Inuyasha smiled.

"She was wearing a blue bathing suit with lemons all over it."

"What are you, some kind of stalker? How did you know that!?" Inuyasha was preparing to beat the man up, since he must have been stalking Kagome. Maybe he was even the bank robber? Otherwise, how could he know so much?

The man put his hands on his sides, "Well duh, I'm a psychic."

"Ok, fine. But I have one more question. If you're really a psychic and you were trying to find out where the bank robber took Kagome – the hostage – then how in the world did you end up in this alley?" Inuyasha knew the man would have no answer for this, and he didn't.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know why I'm here. Perhaps the kidnapper did something that I cannot detect, like climb into a helicopter…" The psychic looked upward, at the sky.

"A helicopter, huh? How convenient for you." Inuyasha uncrossed his arms, "Well, have fun. I'm outta here."

With that, Inuyasha left the man in the alley and walked back towards the bank. He called Sango on the way and told her what had happened. She was as shocked as he was. He made her promise to ask everyone who came in if they had seen anything.

When he got back to the bank, he looked around, desperate to see some hint of where Kagome had gone, but after hours of looking, he found none. Dejected, Inuyasha went home. When he arrived, only silence greeted him. Inuyasha's mother had died of throat cancer soon after he was born, and his father had followed not long after. Inuyasha did have a brother, Sesshomaru, but he was a workaholic. He was always on a business trip to somewhere or other. Currently he was in Hawaii.

Inuyasha walked over to the couch and sat down. He hesitated to turn on the TV, fearing that Kagome would be all over the news. After a few moments in silence, he got up, ate some microwavable macaroni and cheese, and went to bed.

----------

When Inuyasha woke up, he wondered if everything had been some kind of dream. He walked out to the family room, prayed for a second, and turned on the TV. Kagome was everywhere. There were commercials asking for information, interviews with witnesses, and even pleas from her family for the kidnapper to release her. Inuyasha flipped to The Crime Channel, his favorite. There was some show on about how hiding a body has changed over the past century. Several different methods were explained, from dissolving the body in acid to cutting it up into little pieces and throwing it away.

"Too bad Kagome isn't here. This show would have made her scream. Especially if she imagined herself being chopped into little…" Inuyasha's face froze in horror. He had just had a terrible realization. "Oh my God, I hope I'm wrong."

He put on some clothes as fast as he could and rushed for the bank. _What if... what if Kagome was chopped up or dissolved? What if that psychic was right and she really was in that alley…?_

When Inuyasha arrived at the bank he looked around for a policeman to tell his fears to, but there were none, so he walked toward the alley where he and the psychic had spoken. There was nobody around, so Inuyasha prepared to go through the many garbage cans and garbage bags, hoping desperately that he was wrong. He reached for the first bag, and-

His hand passed through the bag.

"What?" Inuyasha waved his hand through the bag again and again. It was some sort of hologram. The bag wasn't real.

He reached for another bag, but that one wasn't real either. None of the bags were. Inuyasha took a step forward. He was now standing in the middle of where the bags should have been. He reached toward the first garbage can, but his hand went through that, too, so he took another step forward. Then another.

Inuyasha was now standing inside the hologram. There was a door in front of him. It had a small plaque on it. The plaque said "School". Inuyasha reached for the rusty doorknob.

It was real.

Inuyasha turned it and opened the door.

On the other side of the door was a narrow, dimly lit hallway. The walls were made of moldy brick. Inuyasha took a step forward. The door shut behind him, making an eerie noise that startled Inuyasha into turning around.

The door was gone.

"Where did it go?" Inuyasha reached his hand out. It passed through another hologram. The door was still there, it was just hidden.

Inuyasha turned around and slowly walked down the hallway, wondering where he was and whether or not Kagome was in here somewhere, still alive. _Thank God she wasn't in that trash._

He came to a door. He tried to open it, but it was locked. He knocked lightly, "Kagome, are you in there?"

No answer.

Inuyasha walked forward. He came upon another door. This one was open. He looked inside. There was a skeleton wearing a white night gown propped up in one corner.

"Oh, my God," Inuyasha went over to the skeleton. It was too tall to be Kagome, but still… _If this is here… God, please let Kagome be safe._ There was a blue teddy bear on the skeleton's lap. Inuyasha read what was written on its chest. It said, "Get well soon."

Inuyasha turned around and saw that there was a hole in the wall behind him. It lead to the room that was behind the locked door. He walked through the hole. There were bricks and glass all over the floor. "What happened here," Inuyasha asked himself. In one corner there was a pile of dirty clothes.

They were Kagome's.

Inuyasha felt sick. He wanted to run away. He wanted to tell some police about this place and let them handle it, but… _What if Kagome's still alive? I have to save her._

Inuyasha went back out into the hallway and continued down it. He came upon a flight of stairs that led up and another door. He opened the door, but there was just a closet on the other side. He turned to go up the stairs, but his foot hit something.

It was a brick.

_Well, that might come in handy. I could use it to bash someone on the head._ Inuyasha picked up the brick and began to climb the stairs.

When he reached the top, he was stunned. It was as if he had been transported to a cathedral in the middle of Europe. It took him a few minutes before he saw the giant machine in the middle of the room. There was a short man running around and fiddling with the many knobs and dials. He seemed oblivious to everything else around him.

Then Inuyasha saw Kagome.


	4. Yesterday's Tomorrow

_**Resinous Commiphora: **Hello, and welcome back! I hope you don't hate me for taking a break last week. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it? Anyway, there won't be another interruption in the story for a while. At least, I hope there won't. There is a possibility that aliens will invade and steal my laptop or break the internet at my house or something. But if that happened, I suppose my little story would be pretty low on your priority list.  
_

* * *

**Lady Infinity…Chapter Four**

**Yesterday's Tomorrow  
**

* * *

Kagome was lying down on a table off to one side. She was wearing a strange metal helmet that was attached to the machine by a long cable. She appeared to be unconscious. 

_Thank God, she's alive!_

The man who was working the machine stopped. He turned around and looked at Inuyasha, "Well, I almost let a bad childrens sneak up on me," He reached to his left and picked up a gun that had been resting on a table next to him. "But, thank goodness, I realized the childrens was there before it was too late."

_How did he realize I was here? I didn't make any noise._

The man smiled, "You made noise with you're mind. I heard that, silly childrens."

"What? Come on, like you can really read my thoughts! You're insane!" Inuyasha tried to stay calm, even though a gun was pointing at him. _How am I going to get rid of this guy? I have to save Kagome._

"Oh, you can have the sleeping childrens back when I'm done with it. Now be a good childrens and wait quietly over there," he motioned towards a bench that Inuyasha had not noticed before.

Inuyasha walked over and sat down, "Fine. Just hurry up." _Yeah right, as if I'm gonna let you do anything to Kagome. The second your back is turned, I'm gonna smash your brains in._

"Silly childrens, no you won't. You'll stay there patiently." The evil man waved his hand. Inuyasha felt a huge weight placed upon him. He couldn't move!

"What the Hell is this? Why can't I move!?" He struggled, but he couldn't move an inch. He watched, unable to do anything, as the man placed the gun back on the table and returned to his work.

Inuyasha continued to struggle against the weight. He struggled for ten minutes, still not able to move at all. Then he noticed that the man had stopped fiddling with the machine. He was doing something else. Inuyasha couldn't see what, though, because the man's body was blocking his view.

"Hey! What are you doing," Inuyasha yelled, "Hey!"

The man said nothing. After a minute of silence he turned and Inuyasha could see what he had been doing. He'd been preparing an injection. The needle was completely filled with a purple liquid.

"What are you going to do with that? You're not going to inject Kagome with that, are you?" Inuyasha tried desperately to free himself from the weight that was holding him down, but he still couldn't.

"Why yes, childrens, I am. Just watch." The maniac walked slowly over to Kagome, positioned the needle over her stomach, and gently lowered it until it pierced her stomach. When it was in about two inches, he began to squeeze the purple liquid out. Inuyasha had always had a phobia of needles, so he had to keep his eyes shut during this part, but when he was sure it was all over, he opened his eyes again.

The man was standing there, watching Kagome. Inuyasha was about to ask what the purple substance was when Kagome's body started spasming. The maniac started laughing, and all at once the weight was lifted from Inuyasha's body. Without pausing to wonder why he was free, Inuyasha rushed for the maniac. When the strange man realized his mistake, it was already too late.

The brick came down. There was a sickening crack as it entered the man's head, but no sound from the man himself other than the sound his body made as it fell, lifeless, to the floor.

_Oh my God, I killed him!_ Inuyasha looked down at the corpse for a few seconds. Then he remembered Kagome. He looked over at her. She wasn't spasming anymore. She seemed to be asleep peacefully. Inuyasha wondered what the maniac had injected into her. He wondered if she would ever wake up. "Kagome, please… wake up." Inuyasha pulled the helmet off of her head, unstrapped her arms and legs, and held her hand in his own.

Several minutes passed. Inuyasha checked again and again to see if Kagome was still breathing, always thankful when he was sure she was, always hoping that she would somehow survive. "Kagome, if you don't wake up… I… I won't go to your funeral!" Inuyasha started to tear up. _Darn it, I'm not supposed to cry. I'm a man._

He couldn't stop himself any longer. He hugged her unconscious body and started to cry uncontrollably. "Ahhhh! Kagome, wake up! Wake up! How am I supposed to pass geometry without you to do my homework for me!?

Inuyasha cried for hours. When he was out of tears, he checked her breathing again. It was still normal, even though Kagome had started to look like she was in pain. It was as if she was having a nightmare and she couldn't wake up.

After a couple more hours of sitting motionless, it dawned on Inuyasha that it might be a good idea to take Kagome to a hospital. He got up and turned towards Kagome, but she was already sitting up!

"Kagome, You're ok!" Inuyasha cried.

Kagome looked alarmed, "Inuyasha...? How did you get here?" She looked around and seemed to remember where she was. She gasped, "Listen, Inuyasha, we have to escape. There's this crazy guy named Alexander who can read your mind and he's probably going to come back any second!"

"Oh, you mean him?" Inuyasha pointed at what was left of Alexander. Kagome studied the body for a few moments. Inuyasha noticed how her expression slowly changed from one of fear to one of joy, and then back to fear.

"Inuyasha, you killed him?"

"Yes. I had to, he injected some purple stuff into you and I thought he was trying to kill you. I had to save you."

Kagome feared that someone would find out that Inuyasha killed Alexander. That fear was quickly overwhelmed by how glad Kagome was that Inuyasha was actually there, and that she was free. She hugged Inuyasha. "Thank you for rescuing me."

"You're welcome. Oh, and what was that purple stuff? 'Cause if it was poison or something, well, that would be bad."

"That purple stuff was the seventh test."

"Seventh test? What the hell? What were the other six tests?" Inuyasha looked very confused to Kagome, so she explained everything that had happened since Alexander had taken her hostage in front of the bank. She told him about the skeleton, the tests, and the failed escape plan.

"Then, when he took me back up into this attic, the room looked entirely different. He told me to lie down on the table. I thought about running away, but he could read my thoughts. He just smiled at me… and my legs started walking towards the table by themselves!" Kagome pointed at her legs for emphasis, "When I got to the table I laid down. I couldn't stop myself as much as I tried."

Inuyasha interrupted, "That kinda sounds like what happened to me when I came in here to rescue you. Alexander just looked at me, and this giant weight seemed to keep me from moving. It was terrible."

"Yeah, that was it. Anyway, then he strapped me down so I couldn't get away, he said it was to free up his mind or something. So I'm strapped to this table, and he starts babbling on and on about the Infinity project. He tells me about how the company he used to work for 'Restasis Corp.' was researching this special formula for the government. He told me about how it was supposed to turn normal humans into super humans that could do all sorts of stuff. I asked him what, but he said that was confidential."

"Uh huh…"

"So then he starts talking about how his fairy friends were killed by the bug exterminator, and how he stole the formula from the company and started doing his own experiments. It seemed like there were still some kinks to be worked out, mainly that the serum would kill anyone it was injected into, which, I told him, seemed like a pretty big pitfall to me. He just laughed at me, though. He laughed and told me that he thought it wasn't the formula's fault, but the human's fault. He thought that if he could find a human that was compatible, it would all work out."

Inuyasha shifted to a more comfortable position, "So he started kidnapping people."

"Yeah, but he really was insane, so he would make the victims to strange things like wear white nightgowns, and he would pretend the first six tests mattered. I don't think he would have succeeded at all if it wasn't for those weird powers he has- I mean, had." Kagome looked at the corpse again, "He told me that I was the eighth person he'd kidnapped over the past five years. After that he just mumbled to himself for a while. Then he knocked me out with sedatives."

Inuyasha picked up where Kagome left off. He got to the part where Alexander had injected the Infinity formula into Kagome when she said, "So he really did inject me with it? Did I really survive? Or does it take longer than that to kill me?" She shivered.

"Kagome, it's alright. We'll go to the hospital and get you checked out. If there's something wrong with you, they'll be able to fix it."

Kagome sighed, "I still can't believe it's all over," she stared off into space, "Well, we'd better get going. I really want to see my parents and change out of this ugly dress."

"Yeah, that would be best."

Kagome and Inuyasha walked down the stairs, then down the hallway. When they got to the end of the hallway, Inuyasha showed the now-visible door to Kagome, "See? There was a door here. You just didn't see it because it was hidden."

"If only I had reached out and touched the wall…" She held out her hand, "Then I would have been able to escape."

"It's ok, everything's ok now."

They both stood there, wondering what would happen when they opened the door. They wondered what would happen when they told the police about this place, and what the hospital would have to say about the Infinity formula, and everything else.

Inuyasha reached out and opened the door.

They stepped out into the daylight.

----------

Inuyasha opened the hospital room door and walked in, "Hey, Kagome, how have you been?"

"Fine… I'm fine. The hospital just wants to keep me for one more night before they discharge me. They're waiting for one more test result to come in."

"Oh," Inuyasha walked over to the night table and put down the bouquet of tulips, Kagome's favorite. "I brought you some flowers. I thought they might make this gray room a little more bearable."

"Thank you, they do. I was about to lose my mind. The TV stopped working last night. One of the nurses said they would get someone to fix it today, but nobody has showed up yet." She looked at Inuyasha, "You didn't happen to bring any books, did you?"

"Nope, sorry, I didn't think you'd want them." He pulled over a chair and sat down, "So, what did the doctor say about the Infinity formula, is it dangerous?"

Kagome lowered her voice, "All I told him was that I thought the kidnapper had drugged me or something. I figured if the Infinity formula was affecting me they would be able to tell, and then I would tell them all about it. Otherwise, telling them would probably just make them want to run even more tests."

"God, you've only been in here for one day, how many tests could they have possibly done on you?"

"A lot."

"Oh. Well if I was you I'd be glad I was in here where the doctors won't let the reporters in. Do you know how many times I've been asked to retell exactly what happened? I'm wondering if I should just feign illness myself."

"I'm not feigning illness. I'm just 'being tested for foreign substances', as the doctor put it." Kagome swung her legs off the side of the bed and sat up, "Anyway, how's the police investigation going," She whispered, "have you been charged with murder?"

Inuyasha laughed, "No! They told me I only acted in self defense. And besides, without me, they would've never known what happened to those other women. They already identified the skeleton that was in the room next to you, you know. They're pretty sure she was the first victim." Inuyasha paused for effect, "She was his wife."

Kagome gasped, "Oh,"

"Yeah, the police psychologist thinks that Alexander went insane after she died. He probably tested the Infinity formula on her first."

"What about the others, did the police find their bodies?"

"No, but they found a map with six X's on it. The X's are all over the country. They said that it's impossible to find the bodies from the map alone. And since they'll never get any help from Alexander, I doubt they'll ever find anything."

"That's sad," Kagome shivered, "I might have been nothing more than an X now, myself."

"Yeah, but you're not." Inuyasha half smiled, "You're alive. Whatever that maniac injected you with must have been defective or something. Thank God."

"Thank God is right."

Inuyasha and Kagome just sat together quietly for a while, happy that they were both safe and in each other's company again. Then Inuyasha said, "Well, I'd better get going. I have to buy some food. Otherwise, I'd starve."

"Hah… I wish I had some food. I'm tired of eating Jell-O and pudding." Kagome's stomach growled in agreement.

Inuyasha stood up, "I can't help you with that. Just try to last until tomorrow morning. Then I'll take you to eat whatever you want."

"That would be great. You might regret offering, though. I plan on eating as much lobster as I can hold." Kagome patted her stomach, "Mmm… see you tomorrow!" Kagome waved goodbye.

Inuyasha, wondering how much lighter his wallet would be after tomorrow, waved back and left.


	5. Oasis

_**Resinous Commiphora: **Hey everyone, sorry about the whole 'a day late' thing. It's amazing how much can get in the way of a man and his computer. Anyway, as you will probably notice, this chapter is kinda slow and maybe not as interesting as previous chapters. This is mostly because I would feel bad if Kagome's life was nothing but one bad experience after another. I'll have you know, though, that the next chapter will probably be more interesting. Unless, of course, you're into slice-of-life stuff.  
_

* * *

**Lady Infinity…Chapter Five**

**Oasis**

* * *

The bright morning sun hurt Kagome's eyes. The constant flashing of cameras didn't help. As a result, Kagome was almost blinded (at least she thought so) as she walked from the car to the front door. The front yard was filled with reporters, all eager to get as many photographs of the now-freed hostage as possible. Another group of reporters seemed desperate for Kagome to say anything. Kagome wondered for an instant whether she should say something totally meaningless, but decided against it. She didn't want people to think that the whole experience had somehow driven her to insanity. 

"Miss, what was it like," one reporter asked.

"What did he make you do," another chimed in.

Kagome didn't know what to say to appease the mob, so she said the only thing she could remember other people saying in similar situations, "Um, no comment?"

This particular statement only seemed to make the reporters even louder than they had been before.

"Move aside," Kagome's father appeared and began to push through the crowd, "Don't make me call the police!"

Kagome grabbed hold of the back of her dad's shirt and followed him through the reporters, who didn't stop asking questions until the door was shut. And even then, Kagome could still hear the sound of cameras going off for several minutes.

"Oh, Kagome, welcome home," Kagome's mother rushed forward and hugged her, "I'm so glad you're finally back."

"Me too, Mom," Kagome hugged back.

Kagome's father, not wanting to be left out, also joined the group hug. They all stood like this, hugging, glad to be safe and together again, for a few seconds, and then they let go.

Kagome was the first to speak, "Where's Sota?"

Kagome's mother responded, "Oh, he wasn't too fond of the reporters. He thought they would find some way to spy on him while he was in the bathroom. He's been at his friend's house for a few days. He'll come home when he feels like it."

"Hah, that is so like him. He really thought they'd spy on him while he was in the bathroom?" _I'll be able to hold that over his head for years!_

"Well, anyway, we're here," Kagome's father smiled, "Oh, and Inuyasha's coming over later. We thought we'd throw a 'welcome home' party for you. All the Oden you can eat!"

Kagome's face lit up, "With all the mushrooms I want?" Kagome loved Oden with mushrooms. Especially when the mushrooms were whole, because then she could play 'mushroom family', which involved her coming up with a life story for each mushroom before she ate it. She did it all in her head, though. So nobody else knew about it.

"Why, yes, of course…" Kagome's mother hated mushrooms.

"Ok, great. I'm gonna go upstairs and take a shower. I feel like I haven't showered in days."

Her mother smiled at her, her father said, "See you later."

Kagome climbed the stairs to the second floor and walked across the hall to her room.

When she entered it she paused for a minute to look around. She took in the lime-green walls (she painted them herself), the ugly and stained beige carpet, and her collection of postcards from Australia. She was especially happy to see her postcards. They were all stuck to the wall across from her bed, almost like wallpaper.

"ahh…" Kagome sighed. She loved her postcards.

When she was done, Kagome walked over to her dresser, pulled out some clean clothes, then walked out of her room, turned left, and entered the bathroom. When the door was shut and locked, she stopped. _What if there ARE hidden cameras?_ Kagome checked everywhere. When she was sure there weren't any cameras, she undressed and looked at herself in the mirror for the first time in days. _I look a little thinner, not that that's a bad thing._

Kagome smiled. The red lump where the needle had entered her stomach was almost gone. Now there was just a little red lump. Actually, it kind of looked like _two_ little red lumps. Kagome looked down at her stomach and saw that there were indeed two distinct red bumps. "Wow, that's really weird. I don't think I've ever heard of one lump separating into two. Maybe I scratched a little too hard in my sleep."

When she was done with her shower, Kagome went back into her room and laid down on her bed. "I'll just rest my eyes for a couple of minutes," she sighed.

----------

"Kagome, I'm sorry to wake you, but Inuyasha's here and dinner is ready." It was Kagome's mother. She made sure Kagome was awake, and left.

Kagome got out of bed, freshened up, and went downstairs. Before turning into the kitchen, she peeked out of a window that looked towards the street. There were several vans parked in front of their house. On top of each of the vans was a video camera. Disgusted, Kagome went into the kitchen.

"Hey Kagome, how have you been," Inuyasha asked from his seat at the table.

"I don't know. I've been asleep for hours." Kagome looked hungrily at the Oden her mom was preparing, "That looks really good."

Kagome's mother smiled, "Yes, now sit down and we can eat."

Kagome ate more than she ever thought possible. When everyone was done they talked about various things for hours. Kagome and Inuyasha told everything that had happened to them again, and everyone had a few words to say to Alexander Dollope, only he was dead.

Kagome stood up, "Well, I'm tired. I'm going to go to bed."

"Wow, Kagome, more sleep? Was the hospital stay that uncomfortable?" Kagome's dad asked.

"No, I slept a lot there, too. I've just been really sleepy lately."

Kagome's mother chimed in, "Dear, leave her alone. You'd be sleeping as much as she is if you were kidnapped by a madman."

Kagome's father said nothing. So Kagome did, "Anyway, see you all tomorrow. Oh, except you, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha replied, "Yeah, I'll see you whenever you start going back to school."

Kagome waved to everyone one last time and went upstairs. As she was getting on her pajamas she looked at the lumps on her stomach once again. They were even smaller than before, but there were still two of them.

Kagome fell asleep very quickly.

----------

As she was asleep, Kagome had several very strange dreams. They were all about one thing: A giant orange rabbit chasing her through a dark forest. In the dreams, Kagome was scared of this giant rabbit, but felt like she shouldn't be. The end of every dream involved Kagome turning around and killing the giant rabbit, always in a different way, always in a very strange way, like making it drown in chocolate milk, or crushing it with the moon.

----------

When she woke up, she looked at her alarm clock. It was already after noon. Kagome grabbed some clothes went into the bathroom. The first thing she did was look down at her stomach. The red lumps were still there, but they hadn't gotten any smaller. It just looked like their centers had disappeared, which made them look somewhat like a sideways figure "8".

Kagome realized what it looked like.

It looked like the symbol for infinity.

"Haha… strange how you mind can trick you like that." Kagome shook it off and trusted that the welts would disappear with time.

----------

Kagome bent over to pick the weed that had invaded her herb garden. "Ha! Got you, you little pest. You thought you could sneak in while I was gone, didn't you?" Kagome threw the little weed behind her and checked for more behind the sage.

Kagome was in the backyard. She looked around at the old, wooden fence that surrounded her. Coming out into the backyard had been her mother's idea. After being cooped up in the house for a couple of days Kagome had become quite irritable. She was happy now, though, taking care of her herb garden it the corner.

The herb garden had started out as a lone rosemary bush that Kagome had to take care of for school. When the project was over, Kagome didn't just want to let her little plant die like the others in her class, so she decided to plant it in her backyard. She dug a little circle of sod up, and thus her herb garden began. After two years it contained so many herbs of so many different varieties that Kagome's mother didn't even buy dried herbs at the store anymore.

"Ah, another one!" Kagome grabbed the offending weed and plucked it from the ground. "Well, that looks like all of them." She got up and looked around for the watering can which she used to water her plants, not because she didn't have access to water in other ways, but because she had read somewhere once that plants liked water from watering cans better. Kagome had since learned that plants don't care _where_ their water is from, so long as the get it, but Kagome still watered with nothing but a watering can out of habit.

She walked to the open window that looked in on the family room where her mother was reading. "Mom, have you seen my watering can?"

"Uh, funny story there," Kagome's mother put down the book she was reading and looked up at Kagome from the couch, "You see, when you were still missing, I had a couple of rough spots where I would throw dishes and things around. I guess it helped get rid of my stress. Anyway, one day I was outside, and all of a sudden I just felt an urge to take that white, plastic, cheery watering can and SMASH IT." Kagome's mother made a fist and shook it in the air. She lowered her hand, "And, well, it broke into several pieces. I'm sorry Kagome."

_Wow, I didn't know my mother could do things like that… _"Oh, that's ok, mother. I'll just go buy another one." Kagome sighed, she hadn't been particularly attached to that watering can, but now she had so somehow sneak to the store to buy another.

"I'm glad you understand, dear. Feel free to take some cash out of my purse. It was my fault, after all." Kagome's mother smiled.

"Sure, I will." Kagome walked up the stairs onto the deck and went inside.

After changing into something less dirty, she grabbed some money from her mom's purse and looked out one of the windows towards the street.

Nobody was there.

"Hey, Mom? All the reporters are gone."

"That's wonderful. I'll call Sota and tell him that he can come home now," Kagome's mother yelled back from the other side of the house.

Kagome mumbled to herself, "I wonder what the found that's more interesting than me…" She was a little disappointed that nobody cared about her anymore, but not so much that she wished the reporters would come back.

As she walked to the closest store that she thought might sell watering cans Kagome thought about what her mother must have gone through when she was missing. _I'll never make Mom go through anything like that ever again._

She turned the corner and saw the familiar sign of her favorite store. It was shaped like a giant spade turned on its side, 'Gertrude's Gardening Gala' written across it in big, pink letters.

When she opened the door a little bell rang and an old lady wearing what looked like an old potato sack looked up from behind the checkout counter of the little store. "Why, hello Kagome. How have you been?" She smiled in a way that only made her look more like a peasant from medieval times.

"I've been fine," Kagome answered. She didn't wish to upset Gertrude, who never watched television, listened to the radio, or read the newspaper, so she would have no knowledge of what had happened to Kagome. "My watering can broke yesterday, so I came to buy a new one."

Gertrude's eyes saddened behind her glasses-the ones with pink frames that looked like they were from the 60s. "Oh, isn't that terrible… I hate it when that happens. Well, you know where to find a new one. I have just received a new shipment this morning. You'll like them."

"I'm sure I will. Thanks." Kagome turned and walked down the second aisle until she came upon a display of brightly colored watering cans. Her eyes immediately settled on a pink one with a large picture of Hello Kitty on it. Kagome bent over to pick it up-

"Ah!" There was a sharp pain in Kagome's stomach. It felt like someone had stabbed her with a rusty spoon.

"Are you alright, Kagome?" Gertrude's voice floated down the aisle from the front of the store.

Kagome swallowed and forced herself to answer calmly, "Yes, I just tripped."

"You should be more careful."

_Yes, I should. Now, what just happened?_ Kagome poked at her stomach a little, but the pain was gone. She pulled up her shirt to make sure nothing had bitten her, and her eyes settled on the welt on her stomach. It was much better looking than it had been in the morning, but it still looked like the symbol for infinity. And what was worse, it almost looked as if it was starting to take on a blackish tint. "I sure hope it's not infected or anything," Kagome whispered to herself.

Kagome grabbed the pink watering can and headed back towards the checkout aisle. As she approached, a man walked in the door. He was wearing a business suit that looked slightly worn. _He should really buy a new one, _Kagome thought as she passed him. Bringing her attention back to her purchase, she placed the watering can on the counter and began to reach for her wallet as she said, "I'll take this one, please."

Gertrude clapped her hands, "Oh I knew you'd pick this one. It's my favorite, too." She turned the watering can over and scanned the bar code. "That will be $21.39. Would you like a bag for…" Gertrude stopped. There was a look of shock on her face.

"What is it," Kagome turned around. The man in the business suit was holding a gun. It was pointed at Gertrude.

"Give me everything in the cash register," The man said. There was a hint of sadness in his voice, almost desperation.

Gertrude looked at the open cash register. It didn't contain much because she put most of every day's earnings in a bank account on her way home. "Ah, I don't have anything to put it in," Her voice was trembling, "Kagome, could you please go grab a bag from over there on that shelf?"

Kagome didn't know if she should move, so she looked at the man. He nodded in agreement, so Kagome walked over and grabbed a bag. When she turned around she had a good perspective of the scene: An old woman, scared and trembling, on the wrong end of a gun that was being held by a desperate man who probably wouldn't have normally robbed anyone. If she could have taken a picture of that scene, it would have won awards.

"Kagome, dear, please hurry up," Gertrude tried to appear calm, but failed.

_Why does this have to be happening? Why can't this man just drop his gun and leave?_ Kagome could actually see this happening in her head. She shut her eyes for a second, and took a deep breath. Her eyes opened just in time to see the man drop his gun. It gave a dull thunk as it hit the laminate floors. Kagome watched in wonder as the man turned and walked out of the store.

Gertrude looked just as surprised. When the door shut she looked over at Kagome, her mouth wide in disbelief.

Kagome put the bag back on the shelf. "Maybe you should call the police," she said to nobody in particular.

"Yes, I think I will." Gertrude replied.


	6. Unusual Happenings

_**Resinous Commiphora: **Surprise! Since last week's chapter came out a day late, I thought it'd be a good idea for this week's chapter to come out a day EARLY! Anyway, Something fun happens in this chapter. I hope it will answer a lot of questions, but hopefully not so many that you don't want to keep reading more. Oh, and a few days ago I finally sat down and actually planned out a bunch of the storyline. Not all the way to the end, but enough that I won't be making stuff up as I go like before. Wait, did you know that?_

* * *

**Lady Infinity…Chapter Six**

**Unusual Happenings  
**

* * *

On the way home from the store Kagome decided not to tell her parents what had happened. They would never find out, anyway, since the police hadn't required her eyewitness account because Gertrude's security camera had recorded the whole thing. It had even gotten a clear view of the man's face. He would be arrested by tomorrow. 

Just as she was about to turn down the street her house was on, she saw the man that had tried to rob the store! He seemed to be breaking into someone's house.

"Hey! I see you! What do you think you're doing?" Kagome yelled, hoping the man would get scared and run away, and also that someone was close enough to hear her and come running.

The man turned around, recognized Kagome, and slowly walked towards her. "I know you… yeah, how did you make me drop my gun? You were more than ten feet away from me.

"What do you mean," Kagome put her hands on her hips and looked around for anyone that might be nearby. There was nobody. "You dropped the gun all on you own. I saw you." She started to edge down the street.

"No, I'm sure you came up behind me and ripped the gun out of my hand. And then you pushed me out the door." He approached ever closer, "Don't mess with me, sweetie. I'm twice your age."

"God, I didn't do anything!" Kagome began to edge a little faster now. She thought she saw a man mowing his lawn. She looked back at the man, who was now holding a knife. "What are you going to do with that," Kagome looked at the knife. The man was now less than a short sprint away from her. She looked down the street again, but the man pushing the lawnmower must have move to his backyard. Kagome found it extremely annoying that nobody was within calling distance.

The man looked sort of clumsy in his business suit as he crept toward Kagome. He laughed, "I'm going to repay you for ruining my first _and _second attempts at stealing."

Kagome didn't feel sorry for the man anymore. She looked at the knife that she knew would catch up with her faster than she could run away. _Maybe I could hit it out of his hand somehow…_

The knife flew out of the man's hand and landed thirty feet away in a shrubbery. The man looked at Kagome in awe, "How did you do that?"

"What do you mean, how did I do that? You just threw it away. You're a really bad thief, you know?" Kagome looked once more down the road. There was a woman walking her dog! _Yes!_

The thief looked over and saw the woman, too. His face turned a light shade of violet. He glanced menacingly back at Kagome, screamed in rage, and ran at her.

Kagome ran as fast as she could, faster than she had ever run in her life. She could feel the man's breath on her neck. She could feel his hands brushing against her shirt, trying to grab her. She screamed at the woman walking her dog, "Help me!"

The woman looked up, took one look at what was happening, and reached into her pocket. She pulled something out that looked like a can of pepper spray, or at least that's what Kagome thought it was. The woman looked as if she was going to try to spray it in the man's face as he and Kagome passed, _but, _Kagome thought, _she'll probably miss if she does that. Why can't she just throw it at his head?_

The can flew out of the woman's hand. Kagome heard a crack, and then a slump as the man fell to the ground. Kagome stopped. She turned around. The man was lying face down in a pool of blood. The can of pepper spray was protruding from his head.

The woman looked at the body in horror, "Oh my God, how did that happen? I was just going to spray it into his face. How did it slip out of my hand and do _that_?" She jerked on her dog's leash, so that the little guy wouldn't run up and start sniffing around.

Kagome walked over, "Thank you. You saved my life." She walked over to the man and felt for a pulse. There was none. "He's dead." Kagome said in disbelief. "Are you a baseball pitcher or something? How did you do that?"

The woman reached her hand into her pocket again, this time she pulled out a cell phone. "I have no idea. It's like it had a life of its own. It just… flew out of my hand." She dialed 911 and gave directions and information to the dispatcher who picked up.

Kagome thought to herself, _I guess I won't be able to hide this from my parents anymore._

_---------- _

"Hey Kagome, how does it feel to be a bad luck magnet?" Sota asked, half jokingly.

"It's not fun," Kagome replied before going back to eating her late dinner. She had been at the police station for hours being questioned again and again. The police just didn't seem to think that a can of pepper spray could 'accidentally' fly out of a woman's hand at a speed fast enough to puncture a man's head, though that was exactly what happened.

When she was done she put her dishes in the sink and went upstairs, glad, at least, that her parents had been there when she was questioned by the police. She wouldn't have to tell them everything again.

As soon as she locked her door and sat down on her bed, she looked once again at the now mostly black mark on her stomach. Kagome was now convinced that it would probably never disappear completely. It was something like a birthmark or a tattoo.

She sighed, "Sometimes it seems like I _am_ a magnet for disaster." She looked up at her popcorn ceiling and tried to find pictures formed by the little bumps. It was something she did every once in a while. It was sort of like trying to find animals in the clouds. She settled upon an area that looked like a unicorn, but she blinked and it disappeared. Kagome tried hard to redraw it again, but then something flew into her eye. "Ah," Kagome rubbed her eyes, "Stupid dust," she opened her eyes and looked back up at the ceiling to try to find the unicorn again, but it was already there.

"What the heck?" The unicorn was there again, easily visible. The only problem was that it wasn't only made of bumps anymore. It appeared to have been carved into the ceiling.

Something clicked in Kagome's mind.

She lay there staring at the ceiling for a while. She ran through everything strange that had happened that day and realized something both terrible and amazing. But before she could be sure, she had to test her theory out. She looked across the room. Her eyes settled on a vase she had made in second grade art class that was sitting innocently on top of Kagome's dresser.

Kagome concentrated…

There was a loud crashing noise, audible throughout the house. "Kagome, what was that?" It was Kagome's mother.

Kagome was silent. The vase had flown across the room and smashed against the wall!

"Kagome, are you alright?" Her mother sounded a little anxious.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just dropped something by accident and it broke. I'll clean it up," Kagome said weakly, hoping that her mother wouldn't ask any more questions.

"Oh, ok then."

Silence.

Kagome's heart was racing. If she just did what she thought she had done then… well, she didn't know what. She looked at the pile of what used to be a vase and imagined them floating over to the white garbage can in the corner.

The pieces flew across the room, crashed into the wall above the garbage can, and rained down upon whatever was beneath them.

"Oh darn it." Kagome listened for her mother to ask what had broken this time, but she didn't, so Kagome cleaned up the mess… without her mind powers.

When she was done, Kagome got right back to experimenting. She looked over at her bed and tried to make her pillow float over to her slowly. She imagined it happening in her mind.

The pillow gently lifted off the bed and floated over to Kagome. _Wow, this is so crazy. What are my parent's going to think?_ Kagome paused, and then whispered to herself, "No, nobody can know. Otherwise who knows who would want to experiment on me?"

Once she had decided not to tell, Kagome was too excited to do anything but lift more objects in her room. She moved little pencils around her desk until they made a big 'K', then she opened her dresser drawer and managed-with difficulty-to get some pajamas to float over to her. At this point Kagome thought that it would be fun if she could get herself changed using only her mind, but try as she might, she couldn't get the waist of her pants open. _Guess I can't do that._

Kagome looked at the clock on the little night table next to her bed. It was almost 2:00AM. "Ah! I have to get to bed. Tomorrow is my first day back at school." Kagome walked over to her bed, pulled down the covers… with her mind, climbed in, and succeeded after a few minutes in lifting the covers back up and over her body. Exhausted from her hours of experimenting, Kagome fell asleep very quickly.

----------

"Kagome, welcome back to school," Eri, one of Kagome's best friends, shout from atop a ladder. She was with a group of other girls who were hanging up a large and colorful banner.

Kagome walked over, "Hello Eri, how have you been?" She paused, "What are you doing?"

"I'm hanging up a banner, duh," She laughed, "I'm on the decorating committee. You know, for the volleyball game." She held up the banner so Kagome could read it.

"Hurray for the Annual Boys VS Girls Volleyball Game…? You mean that's this week?" Kagome was glad that she hadn't missed it. Everyone always looked forward to the big game.

Eri pinned the banner up and looked down, "Yeah, it's the day after tomorrow."

"I can't wait! Have the teams been decided yet, is Hojo on the boy's team?" Kagome asked, not bothering to hide her excitement over Hojo, the most popular boy in school.

"Of course the teams are already picked. You probably would have been on the girl's team, but you were in the hospital and nobody knew if you'd be able to make it to the game or not. As for Hojo, yes, he's on the boy's team. He's the captain."

Kagome's face lit up. "Captain! Now I can't wait to see him play. I'm going to make a big sign when I get home."

Eri scoffed, "You and every other girl in this school. Why don't you help me make more banners instead? Nobody else on the decorating committee wants to," she pointed at the rest of the girls. They were whispering excitedly, probably about Hojo.

Someone called from behind Kagome, "Hey, you're finally back. I thought you'd miss the game for sure." It was Ayumi, another one of Kagome's friends. "Did you hear? Hojo's the captain of the boy's team! Wanna come over to my house later and make some signs for us to hold up during the game?"

"Sure, I was just going to ask you the same thing." Kagome couldn't wait.

Eri rolled her eyes, "Come on, guys."

"Oh be quiet, Eri. You're just mad because Hojo would never want you." Ayumi said bitterly.

"Ayumi, Eri, guess what I did yesterday?" Another one of Kagome's friends, Yuka, ran up. When she saw Kagome she said, "Oh, Hello Kagome. Finally back at school?"

"Yup, just in time for the volleyball game, apparently."

Yuka smiled, "Did you hear who the boy's team captain is? You'll never guess."

Kagome pretended that she didn't know, much to Eri and Ayumi's delight.

"Well you never would have guessed anyway. It's Hojo! Isn't that wonderful?" Yuka was surprised at Kagome's lack of enthusiasm. "Aren't you excited?"

"Uh… Yes?" Kagome replied. Eri and Ayumi started laughing.

Yuka frowned, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" She reached up and tried to brush whatever it was away.

Eri spoke up first, "No, there's not. We just think it's funny that you really thought Kagome wouldn't know about Hojo yet. I mean, she's been standing here with us for the past few minutes."

"Aw, I thought she didn't know yet." Yuka looked as if she was about to cry.

Nobody was fooled by Yuka's act. They all knew that she belonged to the acting club. She was practically a prodigy, able to make herself look happy or sad on command. Sometimes Yuka would walk up to a random student and ask them a difficult question. And when they didn't know the answer (they never did), she would start crying. She always had Kagome, Eri, or Ayumi standing by recording the whole thing. They always laughed whenever they watched those tapes.

"Yuka, don't be sad," Kagome said sarcastically, "Why don't you come with Eri and me and make posters for the game?"

Yuka's sadness disappeared instantly. "That sounds like so much fun. I already had an idea for a poster. It's going to say 'Hojo, Will You Marry Me?'."

"That sounds great, Yuka, I wish I'd thought of that" Kagome replied.

"Yeah, me too," Ayumi chimed in.

Eri just rolled her eyes again.

The four friends could have talked forever, but they were soon interrupted by the bell. Before they all rushed to class, they promised to meet up again during lunch.

----------

"The capitol of Botswana is Gaborone. It was known as Gaberones before its name changed in…"

_God, Geography is so boring I could die right now and probably not know the difference._

Mr. Hompton, the most monotonous sounding teacher in the entire school, continued, "Botswana lies north of South Africa."

_I wonder if I should do something._ Kagome looked around, totally ignoring anything that was said by the teacher. She would be able to find it all out on Google once she got home anyway.

She decided that the most effective thing to do would be to make a light bulb explode. She concentrated… she imagined the light bulb exploding, not in a large way, just enough to make the glass rain down on the classroom and disrupt the most boring speech she had ever heard.

The teacher walked to the other side of his desk, "Botswana is spelled B-O-T-S-W-A-"

Pop! The light bulb broke into pieces and rained down on the unsuspecting students.

It took so long to clean all of the glass out of everyone's hair, sweep up whatever was on the floor, and replace the broken bulb that the teacher never got to finish his speech.


	7. Eating

_**Resinous Commiphora: **Man, every time I sit down to start writing a new chapter, I think: How in the heck am I going to come up with 2500 words? And yet, I do. It kind of amazes me. If you knew me, you'd know how hard it is for me to write out what's in my head. That's one of the reasons I started writing fanfiction. Anyway, you'll find in this chapter some horror stuff. It wasn't originally going to be there, but I've been thinking lately about how this story has evolved away from horror after Igor (I call him that instead of Alexander) died, and I wanted to kind of bring it back. Don't worry, It's part of the story... (Hehehe)  
_

* * *

**Lady Infinity…Chapter Seven**

**Eating**

* * *

A strange whisper drifted out of the corner of Kagome's room. "… yes… teeth…" 

"Who's there?" Kagome demanded from her bed. It was dark and she had just woken up from a wonderful dream about scuba diving. She strained her eyes, trying to see the time on her alarm clock, but there was none. _The power must have gone off or something._

"Oh…" the voice laughed quietly. Then it made some strange noises that Kagome could only describe as a cross between a witch's laugh and the sound of a grasshopper eating loudly.

"So… ta?" Kagome was slightly scared now, even though she knew that it must be Sota playing some evil trick on her.

More of those strange noises, and then: "Tasty…"

Kagome felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She was trying to remember if she had a flashlight in the drawer of her nightstand. She thought she did, but was trying to remember for sure before she made a move and disturbed… whatever was in the corner.

"We… want to play," the thing said. Then it made more noises, now with some snapping and scraping sounds thrown in.

_It's probably a tape player. Sota, you're going to get it!_

More noises, then a loud popping-like a firecracker.

Kagome slowly moved her hand out from under her covers and towards her nightstand. She tried to keep her eyes on whatever was in the corner, but it was so dark that her eyes never adjusted, so she just hoped that the thing wasn't moving around.

"Hehehe…"

The noise had come from the corner, of that Kagome was sure. _At least it's still over there._

Her hand found the drawer knob.

"Do you… want… to play?" The thing said before it continued making its strange noises.

Kagome slowly pulled the drawer open, hoping it wouldn't creak. "Uh, what happens if I don't?" Kagome asked, almost unable to talk now because of how afraid she was.

Now a strange gurgling sound was added to the cacophony. "Then…" more gurgling, "I eat your feet. Hehehe…"

Tape recorders can't answer questions.

Kagome felt around the drawer for the flashlight. _Oh God let the flashlight be in here oh God oh God let it be made of metal Oh God please so I can bash that thing over the head if I have to._

It was there.

Kagome gripped the flashlight (It _was_ metal), brought it slowly out of the drawer, pointed it towards the corner, and… turned it on.

She gagged, "Oh my God..." There was a bloody carcass in the corner. Or at least Kagome _thought _it was a bloody carcass, for it just looked like a pile of lumps of flesh and splinters of bone resting in the middle of a pool of blood. She couldn't even make out what it had once been.

The flashlight panned the room, but Kagome couldn't see any creatures anywhere. She examined the door and windows, but they were all shut. She listened for the sounds of the creature, but there were none.

Then she saw the little footprints. The ones that were leading away from the bloody mess and towards…

Something touched her leg.

Kagome quickly illuminated the spot with the flashlight's beam.

There was a hand… resting on her leg. It was green and sickly and covered in blood and Kagome wished that it wasn't there but it was. It squeezed Kagome's calf a little, as if to test its firmness.

"Tasty… leg…?" The voice rose up from the side of Kagome's bed.

She gagged again, and slowly looked over the side of her bed. What she saw she would remember forever.

Its eyes were very small-too small even for the tiny body that owned them-and they were a brownish yellow color. They looked up at Kagome hungrily from the middle of the most disturbing face she had ever seen. The nose appeared as nothing more than a couple of holes between the eyes and the large, bloody mouth with all its pointy teeth. The skin was the same color as the hands, but much more wrinkly and slimy. There were no ears.

The thing repeated, "Tasty…?" It licked its lips, if you could call the lips, with a long, thin, red tongue.

"No, please, I'll play with you." Kagome was breathing very fast. She thought that her heart must explode at the rate it was beating.

It laughed, "Don't want to… anymore… hehe…" The hand gripped Kagome's leg tighter, "Too… Hungry…" The creature began to pull itself up, closer to Kagome's leg.

Kagome screamed as loud as she could. She was sure that hitting this thing with a flashlight wasn't going to stop it. She looked around vainly for something to use as a weapon.

"Tasty… yummy leg…" It laughed, and began to try to get the covers off of Kagome's leg.

"No!" Kagome screamed again and hit it over the head with her flashlight, but it did nothing. The creature didn't even blink.

"Kagome, why is your door locked!? Are you ok!?" It was Kagome's father. He was jiggling the doorknob.

"Help me! There's someone in here!" She screamed again and tried to pull away her leg, but the thing had a tight grip on it.

"Kagome, hold on, Father is going to break down the door!"

The apparently decided that the covers weren't a problem, and opened its mouth, Kagome could see that the mouth contained nothing but teeth and the tongue. She screamed again.

The door burst open and Kagome's father ran in holding a baseball bat. "Kagome, what is it!?"

Kagome looked back towards her leg, but the thing was gone. "It… it was trying to eat my leg… it…" She began to cry.

Kagome's father rushed over and hugged Kagome, "It's ok, you must have had quite a bad dream."

"No, Dear," Kagome's mother sounded frightened, "look over there in the corner."

They both looked. In the corner was the bloody carcass, and leading up to the bed were little red footprints.

"Oh my God, Kagome, what was it?" Kagome's father asked.

"I don't know," Kagome managed to get out between sobs.

Suddenly, without warning, Kagome's father looked under the bed. "Nope, nothing there."

Kagome's parents called the police, who identified the carcass as that of a human and deduced that some wild animal had killed someone and dragged the body into Kagome's room.

Kagome and her parents obviously didn't think that was what happened, but chose not to say anything that might make the police think Kagome had gone insane and was imagining little goblins and things.

Kagome and Sota, who had woken up too, spent the rest of the night in their parent's bedroom.

----------

The body was identified as that of Tsubaki Haisha, an older woman who ran a small pet store that specialized in snakes. Nobody could determine how she died, or how an animal had dragged her into Kagome's room, which was located several miles away.

Kagome stayed home from school that day and hoped that nobody would find out about what had happened.

Kagome and Sota slept in their parent's room again that night, Kagome because her room smelled strange now that the blood that had soaked into her floor and wall was starting to smell (The cleanup crew was coming tomorrow), and Sota because he was paranoid.

----------

Just to make sure nobody would recognize her, Kagome wore a mask to school that day and pretended she had something highly contagious. But it wasn't necessary. The police had kept everything hidden from the press, not wanting another grizzly story to be covered in their precinct.

"So, Kagome, where were you yesterday?" Inuyasha asked. They were standing next to one of the giant oak trees that dotted the front lawn of the school.

Kagome managed a cough, "Uh, I was sick." She decided to change the focus of their conversation from herself to Inuyasha, "Where were _you_ the day _before_ yesterday?"

Inuyasha crossed his arms, "Sesshomaru got in trouble again with some foreign government. I had to go help him out."

Kagome, knowing how much Inuyasha hated his brother, and how much he hated having to help him out all the time, didn't probe any further. Instead, she said, "Well, it's a good thing you got back today. Otherwise you would have missed the game."

"Yeah, I made sure I got home in time. Otherwise, the rest of the boy's team would have killed me."

Kagome was confused, "'The rest of the boy's team'? As in… you're _on_ the boy's team?"

Inuyasha looked at the ground, "Yeah."

"You should have told me. Then I would have made a-" Kagome stopped, "uh… never mind." She hoped Inuyasha wouldn't bother to follow up on the question. He did.

"A what?"

Kagome rocked back-and-forth on her feet uneasily, "Ah, uh," She dropped her voice to a whisper, "A sign."

Inuyasha smiled. He pretended he hadn't heard her and asked, "Could you say that a little louder?"

Kagome, knowing perfectly well that he had heard her the first time, flushed and said, "I would have made you a sign, too."

Inuyasha was having fun teasing her now, "Then who did you make signs for already?"

Kagome was very uncomfortable. Ever since she had first hinted to Inuyasha that she'd liked Hojo he had teased her about it. And for some reason, Kagome always felt ashamed whenever Inuyasha teased her about Hojo, though she didn't know why. "I already made a sign for Hojo. Ayumi, Yuka and I made them a couple days ago."

Kagome remembered the sign-making-party very well. The signs had been made in 20 minutes. Then the four friends (Eri was there, but didn't make a sign) talked about Kagome's whole kidnapped experience for hours and hours. The only reason they hadn't talked about anything in school was because the principal had forbidden anyone to mention anything about it, mostly to protect Kagome from endless questions.

"...see it?" Inuyasha was looking at her.

Kagome snapped back to the present, "Excuse me?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "Can I see it?"

"Alright, if you really want to." Kagome unzipped her backpack and pulled out a folded up piece of poster board. She unfolded it slowly, half hoping that it was somehow blank.

When it was unfolded, Inuyasha laughed. "'Hojo, Take Me on a Date'? Did you think he would just because of that sign?"

"No, it's just… I couldn't think of anything else to say!" She folded up her sign and ran towards the school entrance.

"Kagome! Come on!" Inuyasha ran after her.

----------

"HOJO! AHHHH!!!"

"Hojo, I love you!"

"Take off your shirt, Hojo!"

Even Kagome was annoyed by some of the louder Hojo fans. Especially since the loudest seemed to be right next to her.

Ayumi jumped up and down, "Hojo! Can you hear me screaming for you!?" She coughed a bit and continued, "If I get a soar throat, It's all for you, Hojo!!!"

"Ayumi, do you think you could calm down a bit?" Eri, who was sitting on the other side of Ayumi, seemed just as annoyed as Kagome.

"No! Duh!" She returned to her cheering, "HOJO!"

Yuka leaned over from her seat beside Kagome, "Hush, it's starting, I want to hear Hojo's voice when he calls out the coin flip!"

Kagome thought of fixing the coin flip in Hojo's favor, but decided not to. _That would be cheating. Besides, I can't see the coin from here anyway._

A hush fell over the crowd as the coin flew up into the air. Ears strained to hear the calm voice of Hojo.

"Heads."

Nothing could be heard above the endless screams of the female students in the crowd. Kagome's was not among them, however. She was a more conservative fanatic.

The referee caught the coin, "It's heads. Boys win the toss."

The screaming fangirls erupted again, "Win it, Hojo! Stomp all over those girls!"

Kageme looked around for Inuyasha and spotted him off to one side with the rest of the boys' team. They all looked uncomfortable, probably because nobody cared about them. "GO INUYASHA!" Kagome screamed.

Eri looked at Kagome from the other side of Ayumi, "I don't think he heard you. I can barely even hear myself!"

"Well, at least now I can tell him that I cheered for him," Kagome replied. She waved at Inuyasha, who had spotted her. He waved back. "There, now he knows I remember that he exists."

Yuka sat down, short of breath from screaming, "Hah… that was fun. Now let's watch the game."

Ayumi, however, was perfectly content to continue standing-and yelling-along with the other hard-core fans of Hojo.

"This is going to be a long game," Kagome sighed.

The first half of the game was fairly uneventful. Only one girl had run onto the field and tried to hug Hojo. She had been stopped short by the security that the school had hired just for this game and had been sent home, weeping.

The second half of the game was much better. Inuyasha even managed to score more points than Hojo, though Kagome doubted anyone but herself and Inuyasha were keeping track. But that wasn't the most interesting part. That was when a group of friends attempted to overpower the security officers and mob Hojo. They weren't any more successful than the other attempts, but it was more fun to watch a group get tackled than just one girl.

"I wonder why nothing like this stuff happens during regular school activities," Kagome said.

Eri, the only other one in the immediate vicinity that was also not standing replied, "Probably because everyone here is feeding off of everyone else. You know, like how piranhas frenzy."

"Yeah, a frenzy," Kagome repeated. The thought of piranhas reminded her of the creature. They both had many teeth, both were ugly, and both made Kagome want to throw up.

"Kagome, are you ok," Eri inquired, "Do you need to see the nurse?"

"No, I'm fine. It's passed."

"Ah, Hojo, look out!" Ayumi screamed. Many of the other girls had started screaming too, and some of the boys. Kagome thought this was a little strange, so she looked back towards the game.

Several pieces of furniture were flying through the air towards the volleyball players. Not just small things like folding chairs, either. Large things like couches and dining room tables.

"What the…?" Kagome stood up to get a better look. She watched in horror as the large furniture started landing near the players, who were running away.

Eri was confused, too. "Is it a tornado?" She raised her voice, "Hey, get out of there!"

Kagome spotted a rather large leather chair that seemed like it was going to squash a member of the girl's team. She focused, but the chair was too much for her. She was only able to move it slightly. "Hey, watch out!" She screamed, knowing that the girl was unaware of what was about to happen to her.

The girl spotted the chair as it was coming down and froze, screaming. It would have smashed into her, but Inuyasha came out of nowhere and tackled her out of the way.

The furniture had stopped falling, but now there was a strong wind. "It's a tornado! Run!"

Pandemonium ensued, with every student trying to get into the school, which had a tornado shelter. Kagome was running too, but not towards the school. She was running towards Inuyasha, who had twisted his ankle when he was saving the girl.

Just as she reached him, wine glasses started falling out of the sky.


	8. Another?

_**Resinous Commiphora: **Just so you know, at some point between this chapter and the last chapter, most of the plot decided to change itself. I don't know how, but it did. I think it was that creature from the last chapter. It went inside my head and made me make it an integral part of the story. Let's just say this story just got a brand new twist. Of course, you, the reader, won't know what changed unless I reveal it at some later date. You also won't know what the twist is until it hits you, which probably won't happen for a couple of chapters. Probably._

* * *

**Lady Infinity…Chapter Eight**

**Another?**

* * *

"Kagome, what are you doing here? Go inside the school!" Inuyasha ordered.

"No, not until I help you," Kagome grabbed Inuyasha and tried to pull him up, "Now come on."

Inuyasha and Kagome slowly moved closer and closer to the school, dodging as many falling wine glasses as they could, "Where did all these glasses come from anyway," Inuyasha wondered out loud.

Kagome, struggling to breath because of the mask she was still wearing, replied, "I don't know, from a factory that makes wine glasses?"

"Spare me the sarcasm, please."

They reached a covered area where Kagome thought it would be safe to leave Inuyasha (At least he wouldn't be beaten to death by wine glasses), so she did. Then she turned around and ran back out.

"Wait, where are you going?" Inuyasha yelled after her.

"I'm gonna go see if anyone else is out there!" She ran back towards the now-empty volleyball court, calling out every once in a while, "Can anyone hear me?" or "Does anyone need help?" She wasn't concerned about falling wine glasses, because they had stopped falling, now it was just really windy.

Someone moaned from underneath a couch off to one side. Kagome ran over. "Hello, are you alright?"

"Oh, what happened?" It was Helga, a foreign exchange student from Hungary. "My head hurts terribly."

"Helga, are you hurt? Can you help me push this couch off of you?" Kagome looked around, but nobody else was outside. They were all probably in the school basement.

Helga winced, "I think my leg is broken. Can you lift it by yourself?"

Kagome tried, and failed. "Hold on, Helga, I have to go get someone to help."

"Ok, hurry please."

So off Kagome went, not in the direction of the school (The only student readily available was Inuyasha), but towards the nearby street where she was sure _someone_ would be standing.

When she reached the top of the hill that had been between her and the street, she grew confused. "Wait, what?" Everything on this side of the hill looked completely normal. There were no fleeing people, no flying wine glasses, not even any wind. In confusion, Kagome looked around for the tornado in question, in case it was on the other side of the school.

It wasn't.

All Kagome saw was some guy standing a small distance away from her holding his arms out. Then, all of a sudden, large watermelons began appearing out of his hands and flying upwards toward the school. _What!? How can he do that!? _Kagome thought she heard a laugh. She started running towards the man, eager to figure out what was happening.

As she approached, she noticed that he, too, was wearing a mask (It looked like an octopus) which covered all of his face, but not his hair-which was dark black. He looked to be somewhere around 20 years old. His height was average; so was his weight. _He definitely isn't from our school_, Kagome reasoned.

The stranger seemed to notice her, because he put down his arms and turned towards her. "Who are you," he demanded.

Kagome didn't answer. Instead she asked, "How are you doing that? Is that stuff actually coming out of your hands?" Kagome was slightly excited. Maybe this man had powers, too. Maybe he could answer some questions she had.

"As if I would tell you," The man laughed as he raised his hands and pointed them towards Kagome. Watermelons began appearing out of nowhere. They began to rain down on Kagome. "Ah!" she screamed, now totally convinced that somehow this man had a strange power just like hers, only his involved shooting stuff out of his hands.

Kagome concentrated on the watermelons, making most of them drop harmlessly to the ground away from her. A few, though, she sent right back at him.

"Whoa," Kagome could hear him exclaim. But then, just as the watermelons were about to smash into him, the man raised his hands and they disappeared!

"What the heck?" Kagome walked a little closer to the new enemy, who was still recovering from the apparent turn of events.

When she was within 20 feet of the masked stranger, he spoke: "Well, well, it seems I'm not the only one with a special ability." Kagome could tell that the man was smiling under his mask, "But, sadly, my ability is a little better than yours."

Kagome clenched her fists, "You don't even know what my power is. How the heck can you tell if yours is better or not?" She didn't like this guy's cocky attitude. She was also a little nervous, and felt she should act tough.

"Hah," the stranger laughed, "How stupid do you think I am? Of course my ability is better than yours."

Kagome looked around: There were no people anywhere in sight. _Great, why isn't anyone ever around when I need help?_ Kagome began searching for some weapon she could use to defend herself.

"Since you have a power, too, and since you seem a little confused, how about I tell you about my ability and you tell me about yours?" he proposed.

_Aha! There are some rocks over there in a planter. If I need to, I could probably smash some into his head without him having time to respond._

The man coughed, "Aren't you going to thank me for my offer?"

"Oh, yes, thank you. You can go first if you want." Kagome replied innocently. She really did want to know what his power was, since she had not been aware that other people had powers. She was actually eager to know a lot more, like how he had gotten his powers, but was too afraid to ask. Especially since this man had just destroyed her school's happiness.

"My power is this," he pointed at both of his palms, "I can suck anything up like a vacuum cleaner, and I can even shoot it back out later if I want to." He laughed. "This morning, before I came here, I visited a few places: A furniture store, a wine shop, and a watermelon patch. I sucked up quite a bit, actually. I don't know where stuff goes once it's been sucked up, though." He cracked his knuckles.

Kagome, trying to buy time so she could find something better than little rocks to throw at him, responded, "That's very interesting. Could you please tell me how you got your power? Did it have anything to do with something called the 'Infinity Formula'?"

"Actually, it…" He stopped, "Wait, why should I tell you?"

"Uh, because if you do… I'll go easy on you?" _Hah, that'll scare you._

The man crossed his arms, "Well, how about you tell me all about your power first? Then I'll know if I have to worry about you going easy on me or not." He didn't seem scared at all.

_Shoot, I can't tell him my power. Then he'll know exactly what I can do. I have to make something up._ Kagome laughed nervously, "Of course. Well, my power is…" she rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants, "I can control fruit. So you see, with all these watermelons around, you'd better be scared."

"Ahaha! In that case, I'd better do this!" In a flash, he sucked up all the watermelons. "Now what, are you going to cry?"

Kagome clenched her teeth, this man was VERY annoying. "No! I'm not going to cry… anyway, maybe there's a fruit store near here. I can sense it with my fruit powers." _God, is this guy even falling for any of this?_

To her delight, Kagome noticed that the stranger was actually a little nervous now. "Ok, fine, I'll tell you how I got my ability." He took a deep breath, "Actually, I went to one other store this morning: A hardware store." He raised his hands, "Let's see which is faster, your fruit or my screwdrivers!"

Screwdrivers began shooting out of the man's hands at very fast speeds. In a panic, Kagome forgot all about her ruse; she sent most of the screwdrivers into the ground.

"Huh?" The masked man exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, you idiot, I can do that, too." Kagome looked over towards the rocks (She hadn't found anything better), concentrated for a second, and then sent them careening toward the man's head. He looked over just in time to get a face full of them. Actually, Kagome's aim was pretty bad, so he got hit all over his body.

"Ugh!" He collapsed on the ground, apparently unconscious. The rocks had been going really fast, so the mask hadn't been enough to protect his head.

_Oh my God, I beat him!_ Kagome was so happy; she actually jumped up a little. She stood there for a second celebrating, then remembered Helga trapped under that couch. "Ah! Helga!" She looked towards the school, then back at the limp body on the ground in front of her. Then off she ran towards the police station that was a couple of blocks away.

When she got there, she wasted no time. She told the first officer she saw about what had happened at the school, and also about how she had run into a man wearing a mask who had tried to mug her on her way to the police station (she couldn't tell them the truth, of course).

Most of the police men in the building ran for the school to help Helga and any other students who were trapped or injured. Two, however, followed Kagome to the spot where she had left the masked stranger. He was gone.

"He was here. I didn't stop throwing rocks at him until he collapsed. I thought he was unconscious." Kagome sighed.

One of the police officers tried to console her, "That's ok, miss. If you threw that many rocks at him he must be seriously injured. I'm sure he didn't get too far." With that, the officer talked into his walkie-talkie for a while and then said, "Miss, I just wanted to let you know: We're going to mount a city-wide manhunt after we're done assisting the school. We'll catch him soon."

Kagome tried to look relieved, "Thank you."

After a few more questions about the physical appearance of the assailant, which she answered as well as she could, Kagome returned to the school and found Inuyasha outside in the shade reclining on a bench among several other students who had also been injured.

She sat down next to him, "Hey, Inuyasha, how's your ankle?" She sat down next to him and poked at his ankle playfully.

"Ouch, watch it!" He slapped her hand away, "It's broken. The school nurse said I'll probably need a crazy foot-brace-thing for a few weeks, but to wait and see what the doctor the school called for says."

"Oh…" Kagome trailed off. "What's that thing over there?"

"What thing," Inuyasha turned and looked in the direction Kagome was looking.

Kagome pointed, "That. It looks like a little animal digging through the dumpster way over there. See it?"

Inuyasha strained-his vision wasn't as good as Kagome's-but he saw nothing. "I don't see anything, Kagome, did it go away already?"

"No, it's there. You really can't see it?" She lowered her hand and continued, "I'll go see what it is. Be right back!" With that, she was off to inspect the hungry animal.

She walked across the lawn, looking once again towards the devastation that used to be the volleyball court. There were some men in suits already cleaning up. _Man, this school sure knows how to get things done fast._ Kagome marveled at the efficiency money could buy, because, of course, the school had nothing else to buy with all the money it received as tuition payments.

"Ah," She sighed as she left the shadows of the trees and felt the sun on her face. It was rejuvenating in a way, after all of the stress she had just gone through.

She stopped.

There wasn't an animal eating garbage from the dumpster, it was the creature from Kagome's nightmare! Its back was to Kagome, but it was definitely the thing from the other night. She watched in horror as it giggled and dove into the dumpster.

_Maybe if I back away slowly… it won't see me…_

Too late.

The sickly head was peeking out of the dumpster and looking down at Kagome, "Hehe… hello… tasty…" The squeaky little voice made so many unnecessary noises as it was speaking; Kagome felt that she would have been scared even if it had looked like an angel from heaven.

Without thinking, Kagome tried to rip its head off with her mind. There was a strange snapping-squishy noise and…

Nothing happened.

"Silly flesh… that won't work… on me… hehehe…" With this, the creature reached down and bit a chunk out of the metal side of the dumpster. It seemed to enjoy this new taste; it bit down and took another bite.

Kagome didn't even bother to look around. _Of course there's nobody around. There never is._ "Why won't it work on you, huh? What are you?" She tried to sound like she wasn't scared, and failed.

The creature gargled and began caressing the top of the dumpster with its disgusting, green hands. "Because I am above it… I am…" The thing paused, as if to decide whether or not it should say any more. Kagome held her breath until it continued, "I am above…" It said this with what Kagome imagined must be seriousness. It was as if the goblin-thing (Kagome thought that if anything ever looked like a little green goblin, this did.) thought that this answer would satisfy all of Kagome's past and future questions.

Kagome wrung her hands, trying to stop them from shaking, or at least make it look like she was shaking them on purpose. She worked up the courage and asked, "Are you real?" She was still not totally sure. Especially since she had just recently finished a book about a man who went totally insane and thought elephants were taking over his house.

It just sat there, staring at Kagome.

_What's it doing? Is it going to attack?_ She looked right towards the volleyball court. _How fast can it run? Would I reach those men in time?_ She looked back at the creature.

It was still staring at her. It wasn't even blinking.

Kagome looked over her left shoulder at the makeshift infirmary. Most of the students were gone now. Only a few stragglers were left, including Inuyasha (he was probably waiting for her). _They're closer than the volleyball court, but there are less of them. Should I try to run for them instead?_ Kagome looked back at the dumpster.

It was gone.

_Oh my God, where is it!? _She looked around frantically, but it wasn't anywhere. A little freaked out, Kagome decided she'd better start moving back towards Inuyasha. Maybe not running and screaming, but certainly not just walking slowly, either.

Kagome turned around and took a step forward. All of a sudden, the thing leapt out from inside the dumpster, landed on the ground, and lunged at Kagome.

She screamed.


	9. Together

_**Resinous Commiphora: **OMG, I just realized something. Something terrible! I write these chapters in word, ok? And whenever I switch a scene or a point-of-view or anything, I put ten asterisks. You know, so people can tell that something switched. Well, apparently, those asterisks disappear whenever I upload the document. I'm sorry. I'll go back and fix everything right now. Stupid me. In other news, did anyone else notice that the lump of flesh on Kagome's floor from chapter seven was a homage to Tsubaki, the crazy snake lady who hated Kikyo? See if you can figure out how I came up with her last name...  
_

* * *

**Lady Infinity…Chapter Nine**

**Together**

* * *

"Help Me!" Kagome screamed as she ran towards the congregation of students. She could hear the thing's little feet pattering on the ground as it chased after her, but she didn't dare look back for fear that trip over something. 

In the distance, Inuyasha stood up on his good leg and yelled, "Kagome, what is it!?" A couple other students stood up now, too, and even those who couldn't stand were looking in her direction.

Kagome didn't bother to explain. She just ran as fast as she could. Then, all at once, she felt a terrible pain in her left calve. It felt like she had been stabbed with a pair of scissors. "Ah!" She screamed in pain. She didn't know if the goblin had bit her leg, or if it had scratched it, either way: She kept running. Her heart felt as if it would explode at any second, but she kept running.

_Please let me make it to them and please let this thing be scared of crowds and please don't let it eat my leg off and oh why didn't I wear blue jeans today!?_ She was very close to the awaiting students now. She could see Inuyasha's face clearly; it showed how scared he was. He looked as if he wanted to help her, but didn't know how.

Kagome felt another sharp pain, this time a little closer to her ankle. It hurt so much; she could barely work up enough strength to keep running. "Help, something's chasing me!"

Inuyasha looked perplexed. "What's chasing you? There's nothing there."

Kagome didn't bother to look back and check. She just ran into Inuyasha's arms, expecting the creature to bite her leg at any moment.

It didn't.

"Uh, Kagome, could you please stop leaning on me? I can't…" He grunted and they fell backwards onto the bench.

"Oh, Inuyasha," she cried, "I was so scared." Kagome clung to him. She didn't think she could stand: The pain in her legs was so terrible.

Inuyasha said nothing. He could hear some of the others commenting on the condition of Kagome's legs (he would call for the nurse shortly), but for now he just hugged her back.

"Oh my, what happened to your legs, Sweetie?" It was the school nurse, and she was _very_ concerned. "Come here. Let's get your leg cleaned up." The nurse tried to ease Kagome off of Inuyasha, but she wouldn't let go. She asked Inuyasha, "Dear, would you mind if she stayed like that? I wouldn't be able to see her leg clearly in any other position anyway.

Inuyasha replied, "Sure, I guess."

The nurse bent down and surveyed Kagome's leg: The skin and muscle was all shredded up. Blood had soaked into her "What did this?"

Kagome paused a second, and then answered, "Some kind of animal. It was over by the dumpster." She wanted to tell the truth so that the others would be on their guard, but she still wasn't sure if the creature would go after anyone but herself.

"You're lucky. From what I can see, this animal did more cosmetic damage than anything. I'll go get the doctor (he's still here) and have him look at it." With that, she faced Inuyasha and spoke to him, "You, take this," she pulled a cloth out of her pocket and handed it to him, "and try to wipe away some of the blood. Don't touch the wound, though; leave that for the doctor."

Inuyasha clenched the cloth in his hand as if to say, "I accept". After the nurse was gone, he helped Kagome to sit down normally next to him and began to take off her left shoe and sock (both were soaked and red).

After a minute of silence, Inuyasha addressed Kagome in a very serious tone, "Kagome," he said, "did you get a good look at the animal that attacked you?"

"No, I didn't," she responded, a little thrown off by how serious he was, "It all happened so fast…" _Why can't I think of anything better to say? He'll see right through me. I'm sure of it._

He bent over and began dabbing at the blood below her torn-up leg. "How about after the doctor sees you, and after you go to the hospital (if you have to), you come over to my house? Sesshomaru's finally home. He's driving me insane."

_Great, what's he gonna do, interrogate me?_ "Uh, sure, that sounds nice. I always enjoy seeing Sesshomaru, even if you don't," Kagome answered. "What are we going to make for dinner?" They always made dinner together when she went to Inuyasha's house, usually some exotic foreign dish. Sometimes it was tasty, most of the time it wasn't.

----------

_Ugh, how am I going to get out of here before that girl gets back?_ He pulled off his mask and managed to prop himself up on one elbow, where he watched her turn a corner and disappear.

He assessed himself: Nothing was broken (he thought), though he was severely bruised and his right eye appeared to be swelling shut. Slowly, he began to sit up. "Ugh!" No good, he couldn't move; he lay back down on the ground. _Miroku, you're so stupid. Why didn't you realize that she was lying?_ He coughed a little. There was no possibility of him getting up and running away before that girl got back with the police. He lay there quietly, awaiting his doom.

"Oh my God, are you all right," Miroku heard a woman's voice from somewhere behind him. Miroku managed a moan in reply. _How lucky can I be?_

The woman walked over and looked down at Miroku's face. Miroku tried to make himself look as hurt and weak and handsome as he possible could. As this newfound savior studied him, he studied her.

_She sure is a looker: A few years younger than me, probably-a little too young for my tastes. _She had black hair, cut just above her shoulders, and a pleasant face. The only thing about her not in her favor was her choice in clothes; she looked like she had dressed herself with her eyes shut.

"Um, what happened to you, do you need help?" The girl asked. She seemed like she would be willing to carry Miroku on her back for miles if he needed her to.

He pretended that talking was painful to garner her sympathy even more, and lied, "I was ambushed by a gang of masked street thugs." He coughed. "I tried to defend myself, but all I managed to do was de-mask one of them. I think they left me for dead."

"That's terrible!" She clasped her hands together (Miroku thought it looked more like she wanted to go beat the thugs up than help him), "What were they wearing?"

"I… I can't remember…" He rubbed his forehead, "I blacked out pretty quickly."

She lowered her hands, "Oh… I see." Her face looked disappointed. "Well, anyway, do you need me to call an ambulance or something?"

"No! Uh, that is, no thank you. If you could just carry me over to the nearest bus stop I'm sure I could manage to get home."

She crossed her arms. She didn't seem to believe him. "Are you sure you don't want to be taken to the hospital? You look terrible."

_Oh no, did I overdo the whole pain thing?_ "Yes, I'm sure. Really, my body is tough. I'll probably be fine… probably." He wasn't entirely sure himself, actually.

"Fine, then. I'll help you to the nearest bus stop." She held out her hand, which Miroku took eagerly, and helped him up.

The trip to the bus stop was not fun. Miroku was much more hurt than he had at first realized. He was in constant pain and could never catch his breath. What was worse was how annoyed his savior seemed with him. Miroku had been planning on asking for her name and phone number, but so far he'd been unable to ask anything-he was _really_ short of breath.

At last, after what seemed like hours, they reached their destination only to find the bench already occupied by a chattering group of old ladies in fancy hats. The girl propped up Miroku on a nearby signpost and asked the occupants of the bench what time the next bus would show up.

An elderly lady wearing a white sun hat responded, "The next bus? Why, I believe the busses run on a bi-hourly schedule. That would mean the next bus will arrive in," she asked one of her companions for the time and resumed, "an hour and a half."

Miroku could tell the girl was shocked. "What!? Are you planning on waiting here that long?"

The elderly woman laughed, "Oh, no, dear, we just stopped to catch our breath for a minute." She leaned forward, "If you want, I believe there is a bus stop about a mile east from here that operates a bit more frequently."

"Well, thank you, goodbye," she turned and walked back over to Miroku. "You heard?"

"Yes."

"Well, I don't want to walk another mile any more than you do, so how about we go to my apartment? It's just a couple of blocks from here. You can rest up there."

Miroku gagged, and then said, "No, I couldn't trouble you like that"

"No, really, it's ok." She smiled, "My father's a doctor. I'm sure he could take a look at you really quick, at least to make sure you don't have any broken bones or anything."

_Nice smile._ "No, I'm sorr—" He lost his grip and almost fell onto his face, only she caught him. "Well, if you insist…"

"I do. My name's Sango by the way, what's yours?"

"Miroku."

----------

"Uh, Inuyasha, does the cookbook say it's supposed to look like this?" Kagome was bent over a pot full of something that resembled mud. "Ugh," she plugged her nose, "And is it supposed to smell like this?"

They were both in the kitchen of Inuyasha's house. Actually, it was his brother Sesshomaru's house. Sesshomaru was successful at whatever it was he did (Kagome wasn't quite sure), and thus had a large house with a large kitchen full of stainless steel appliances.

Inuyasha examined the cookbook and then the contents of the pot. He made a weird face, "Kagome, what did you do?"

Kagome backed up to get away from the smell. "What do you mean, what did I do? I did exactly what you told me to!"

"Then how did you make this," He pointed to a picture in the cookbook, "Look like that?" He pointed back to the pot, which was now emitting strange, bubbling noises.

"Give me that," She took the book from him. The picture he'd pointed out showed a pot full of what looked to Kagome like the most beautiful red sauce she had ever seen. It looked so tasty… she looked back at the pot. _What did I DO?_ Out loud she said, "It'll probably be fine. I'm sure it'll taste fine." _I'm not that hungry. I can probably just act like I'm on a diet or something._

Inuyasha sighed, "I guess it doesn't really matter anyway. If it really tastes as horrible as I think it will, we can just order pizza."

"Maybe we should taste it…?" Kagome asked.

"That's probably a good idea," Inuyasha agreed. After staring at each other for a minute, Inuyasha gave in. "Fine, I'll taste it."

They ordered pizza.

After they served themselves, they walked through several rooms until they eventually came upon the dining room. "Wow, did you remodel or something? I thought your dining room was bigger," Kagome observed.

"See those doors?" Inuyasha motioned towards two very large doors in the wall opposite them. "Those open up into the ballroom. We don't go in there unless Sesshomaru is throwing one of his parties so we close the doors. It really makes this room feel less… empty."

They sat down across from eachother at the large dining room table. Kagome was facing the door they had come in through.

Right before they started eating, Kagome wondered aloud, "Where's Sesshomaru, is he not hungry?"

"No, when I told him I was having a friend over, he suddenly remembered he had an appointment or something."

"Oh, that's too bad."

They ate quickly.

When they were done, Inuyasha broke the subject, "Does your leg hurt? I mean, there are an awful lot of bandages."

Kagome looked down at her left leg, which was wrapped like a mummy. "It's doing ok. The pain medication the doctor gave me really helped."

"I see," Inuyasha paused for a second, then continued, "So, uh, what exactly was chasing you today at school?"

Kagome felt her heart begin to speed up. She wondered how long she could keep lying to Inuyasha. He was pretty good at seeing through Kagome whenever she lied. It was one of his talents. "Actually, I didn't get a good look at it. It all happened so fast."

"Sure it did." He leaned back in his chair, "So how did it look?"

"Well, it was… brown. I think it must have been a squirrel. You know, squirrels can get vicious sometimes."

Inuyasha breathed in and out deeply as if to calm himself. Kagome knew what that meant: He wasn't going to take his time. "Kagome, you and I both know you weren't attacked by a squirrel. Now please, just tell me the truth"

Kagome told him everything about the creature. She told him about the encounter in her room, about the dead body in the corner, and, finally, about the encounter at the dumpster. She edited out anything to do with her powers, however. She didn't want to get into that just yet.

Inuyasha closed his mouth (which had been agape for the past couple of minutes) and spoke, "Wow."

Kagome said nothing.

"And this thing said it was 'above'?" Inuyasha crossed his arms. He seemed to be in thought. All at once, he leaned forward and said, "I know! This has something to do with whatever you were injected with by that psycho kidnapper!" He grinned confidently.

_Why didn't I think of that?_ "You think so? I, uh, hadn't thought of that. And anyway, how in the heck would a shot summon some kind of evil human-eating demon?"

The grin left Inuyasha's face, "I don't know. Maybe you should try asking this 'above' guy the next time you see him."

"Ha ha, that's very funny…" Kagome tried to think of a retort, but lost her train of thought. She had heard something.

Something that sounded like little footsteps.

_Oh my God, it's here._ She could feel the blood leaving her face. _Hold on now, don't jump to conclusions._

"Kagome, what's wrong, why is you face all white?"

"Shh!" She stood up as quietly as she could and listened. Inuyasha stood up, too. A few seconds passed, and then Kagome heard it: The evil squeaky laugh of the goblin thing.

Kagome looked across the table at Inuyasha. "Inuyasha," she whispered, her face white as death, "I think the 'above' thing is in the ballroom."


	10. Chased

_**Resinous Commiphora: ** This chapter is from Inuyasha's point of view, which makes it a little interesting (especially since we, the readers, know more about Kagome's powers than he does). Anyway, let me just say how fun it is for me, the author, to have something like the 'above thing' at my beck and call. It must obey me, and pop in and out of the story whenever I deem it scariest. I wonder where it goes when I don't need it? Oh, and just so you know, I really love reviews; I smile whenever I get one. Thank you, reviewers._

* * *

**Lady Infinity…Chapter Ten**

**Chased**

* * *

Inuyasha froze. "It's in the ballroom?" He slowly began to move towards the end of the table. He motioned for Kagome to meet him there, but she didn't move.

"There it was again. Did you hear it?" Kagome seemed very scared to Inuyasha.

"No, I didn't hear it. Are you sure your mind isn't playing tricks on you?" He tried to sound calm even though he wasn't. _It won't do either of us any good if she gets hysterical right now._

Kagome squeezed her fists so tight, her knuckles turned white. She looked at him, "Of course I'm sure. I don't know why, but it seems like I'm the only one who can see and hear him." Her voice was so quiet; Inuyasha had to strain to hear her.

That was when he heard it.

The little footsteps.

He got goose bumps. "Kagome," He could barely manage to get out, "I just heard it."

Kagome looked up. She seemed relieved, like she was finally sure that she wasn't going insane, and then, "What should we do?"

Inuyasha reached his hand out to Kagome, "Let's get out—"

They heard a scratch on the door that lead to the ballroom, and then a slurping sound. Inuyasha could see the thing licking and scratching the door in his mind.

Kagome looked back from the door to Inuyasha. She took his hand and they began to walk around the table.

More scratching, only rougher sounding, like the creature was using its teeth.

Kagome and Inuyasha picked up the pace. They were around the table now and almost to the exit. "Kagome, it's ok. That door is solid oak; it's pretty thick."

The door snapped, cracked, and popped. Inuyasha looked just in time to see the bottom third buckle as a single tooth punctured through.

They reached the door. Inuyasha motioned for Kagome to go through first just as the ballroom door broke open and _it_ tore its way through.

Kagome screamed. Inuyasha just stared at it. It was the most hideous thing he had ever seen. It was a greenish-brown and it was ugly and it was foaming at the mouth. It was horrible. _Oh my God what is that thing? _Up until now, he had harbored a bit of doubt. He had thought maybe that stress due to the whole kidnapping incident had made her transform regular things like raccoons into strange creatures. He thought that she had been attacked, but not by a goblin creature.

He no longer had any doubt. As he looked at the thing, it looked at him. It looked at him and licked its lips.

Inuyasha shivered. "What do we do," He whispered. Kagome didn't hear him. She seemed deep in thought. He also began to go through courses of action in his head. _Can we outrun it? Yes, Kagome did earlier. But wait, now her leg's injured. Can I carry her?_ He thought he could, but wasn't totally sure. He also wasn't sure exactly where they could run to. Sesshomaru's house also had a sizeable yard. Inuyasha wasn't sure where they would run to.

The above thing took a step forward. It seemed to be smiling, like it was sure it would get them.

"What do you want!?" Inuyasha was startled by Kagome's sudden outburst.

The creature laughed and took another step forward, "hehehe… your flesh…"

Kagome clenched Inuyasha's hand tighter. She asked, "Why? Why are you after me?" She took a step backwards; Inuyasha did, too.

The above creature laughed (if it could even be called a laugh). "Because… I am above… you are below," He lifted his hand and pointed at Kagome, "You are tasty to me."

Kagome took another step backward. Inuyasha, wanting some answers himself asked, "Why do you want to eat her, and what's an above? Why the Hell are you even here!?" He was going to protect Kagome. The thing didn't look that strong. _Maybe its bark is worse than its bite…?_

The above didn't answer. It didn't even look at Inuyasha, who was now getting angry. He was about to try asking again in a somewhat louder voice when it all started.

The creature made a gurgling screaming noise and jumped up onto the table. Kagome screamed and the entire table lifted up and smashed into the ceiling.

Inuyasha's mouth opened wide in astonishment. _Why the Hell would that thing smash itself into the ceiling?_

The table fell to the ground with a smash; it broke into several pieces. There was a huge hole in the ceiling that opened up into a second floor bedroom. A laugh floated down from somewhere up there. "Hehehe… I told you… it won't work…" The above thing jumped down and landed in front of them.

Kagome clenched Inuyasha's hand even tighter. Inuyasha was going to tell her to loosen her grip a little, but instead he just said, "RUN!"

They turned simultaneously and ran: Inuyasha leading the way, Kagome struggling to follow. Inuyasha decided that their best chance was to make for the nearest back door. He tried to pick the most confusing path he could think of to get there, hoping to lose the creature on the way. Behind him, Kagome was screaming. She was barely able to keep up.

As they wove their way through the countless rooms, Inuyasha found himself wondering why Sesshomaru's house was so big. They were the only two occupants, yet the house was large enough to be a hotel.

Inuyasha was startled back to reality by the sound of breaking furniture. He looked back to see how close the above was to them, but it wasn't there.

The furniture was crashing around all by itself. It seemed to be jamming the doorways they had passed through.

He glanced at Kagome: She was also looking back, but didn't answer when he asked about the furniture. _Maybe the thing is invisible again or something…_ Inuyasha didn't think too much about it; his mind was preoccupied with dodging furniture.

After running through a few more rooms, they entered a room that contained a washing machine, a dryer, and a few more large and expensive looking appliances. More importantly, though: It contained a door to the outside. When they reached the door, Inuyasha grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and pushed.

The door wouldn't open.

It was padlocked.

In the distance, the above thing screeched. Inuyasha and Kagome looked back towards the doorway they had just come through. It was jammed full of chairs and bookcases. _How is it doing that if it's so far away?_ _No, it doesn't matter. We have to get out of here._

He turned to Kagome and said, "There's probably a key around here somewhere. Help me find it!" He ran over to the washing machine and bent down to look under it just in time to hear a loud bang. He jumped up and turned around: The back door was open.

"Inuyasha, hurry, we have to go now!" Kagome was still catching her breath. Inuyasha ran up, and took her hand. After one more brief glance backward (the screeching was closer now), they both ran out the door and into the back yard.

Immediately Inuyasha pulled Kagome towards a group of large boulders. It was Sesshomaru's foreign rock collection. Whenever Sesshomaru saw a rock he liked-no matter where or how large, he bought it and had it shipped here. Normally Inuyasha saw it as an enormous waste of money, but now it was the perfect hiding place.

They made it to the rocks and hid behind an extremely large one. Inuyasha remembered that it was from Sweden. It was one of the most expensive rocks in Sesshomaru's collection.

Praying that the above had given up on them, they waited. It was all they could do. Inuyasha didn't dare risk making a run for it; there was no way Kagome could run any more.

"Inuyasha," she said between gasps for breath, "thank you."

"For what," Inuyasha asked.

She smiled, "Without you constantly pulling me forward, I wouldn't have made it."

Inuyasha took his eyes off the door and looked at her. He didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. After a few seconds, he turned his vision back on the door.

There was a scream, a crash, and the above burst out of the door.

It stopped and looked around, as if it was unsure what to do now. A series of strange gurgling noises floated across the yard to Kagome and Inuyasha. They both shivered. The gurglings got louder and louder, and then, all of a sudden, they stopped.

The creature turned its head slowly in the direction of the boulders; it began walking towards them.

"Inuyasha, what are we going to do?" Kagome whispered. She sounded so scared.

_I have no idea._ He glanced at Kagome for a second. _Maybe I could carry her on my back?_ He was almost sure he could carry her, but where to? The nearest neighbor was an elderly man who couldn't get around without a wheelchair. As a matter of fact, Sesshomaru's house was in a very exclusive neighborhood. The houses were all spaced very far apart.

The above broke into a run and began to laugh. It was taking its time, like it knew they wouldn't be able to escape.

In the time it took the goblin thing to reach the halfway point between the rocks and the house, Inuyasha had decided a couple of things: That he could in fact carry Kagome for as long as he needed to, and that they would go to a more distant neighbor's house. It wasn't the closest place to run to, but the couple who lived there were avid gun collectors. They would certainly be able to blow this thing's head off.

He turned and faced Kagome, who had stood up and was staring at the rock in front of them, "Kagome, I need you to…" He stopped.

The giant rock they were hiding behind began to move. Not much, only a little. After a while, it stopped. Inuyasha heard Kagome sigh (probably in relief, he thought). _What just happened, was that an earthquake?_ He looked up; the above was almost to them. Inuyasha could hear it breathing and licking its lips.

He grabbed Kagome, "Kagome, get on my-"

He was interrupted by Kagome herself, who hugged him very tightly and said, "Hold on, Inuyasha!"

All at once, they both flew into the air! They went up and up until the above creature was just a dancing, shrieking speck the size of an ant.

Then they stopped, but they didn't begin to fall; they just… levitated. Kagome coughed, "Inuyasha, you're choking me."

Inuyasha did as he was told. He couldn't think straight. _We just flew… what? Are we dead? We just… flew…?_ "Uh," Was all he could manage to say out loud.

Kagome let out a long sigh. She seemed so relieved, but Inuyasha didn't know about what. They were in the air! They were going to fall to their deaths! But he couldn't get any of that out, only, "K… Kagome…?" He shut his eyes.

Kagome squeezed him tighter, "Don't let go, okay?" She sounded perfectly comfortable. Then she seemed to realize the situation they were in, "Inuyasha, I have something to tell you. But first, let's go somewhere far away from that…" She shivered, "thing."

Inuyasha only spoke once during the trip: When they began moving down. "Oh my God, we're going to die." That was it. He didn't even open his eyes until they were safely on the ground.

Kagome had taken them to a nature park they'd both been to on school field trips. It was closed from sunset to sunrise, so nobody was there right now. He looked around, spotted a picnic table, walked over to it, and sat down.

Kagome sat down next to him, "Inuyasha, I know you probably have a lot of questions right now, but first let me tell you my story." She told him about discovering her powers, about the encounter with the masked man who could suck things up his hands and spit them back out, and anything else she could think of that she hadn't told him yet.

Inuyasha was silent until the end, when he said, "Wow. That explains some things." As a matter of fact, it explained almost everything: The furniture, the door, the rock… "Wait, so why didn't you just make us fly away the second we got outside," He asked.

Kagome smoothed down her khaki shorts, which were filthy, and replied, "Uh, actually, I didn't know I could fly like that until just now."

Inuyasha opened his mouth, but couldn't speak.

Kagome continued, "At first I tried to lift up that boulder so I could drop it on him, but it was too heavy. So then I thought, 'Why can't I just lift _us_ up?'" She looked at him, "and it worked. Good thing it did, too, or else I don't know what we would have done."

"I was going to run to a neighbor's house… with you on my back."

"I don't think we would have gotten very far, Inuyasha," she said gravely, "I think the only reason we outran it for that long was because I kept throwing furniture in its way."

Inuyasha lowered his head, "Yeah, you're probably right." He kicked at the ground and began a new topic, "Don't you think it's weird that your powers and that above thing both appeared after you were kidnapped?"

"Yeah, I thought about it a little, but I was never convinced that an injection would cause a crazy goblin monster to want to eat me."

"Well, it has."

She sighed, "Yeah. Now I have to worry about that thing popping up all over the place."

"At least you know now that it can't fly; you can just escape that way whenever it comes after you." He said, trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah," she said sarcastically, "unless I'm in the middle of a crowd of people."

"Uh," Inuyasha fumbled, "I hadn't thought of that." He stretched, "Actually, I just thought of something else: Why could I see the above now when I couldn't see it before?" _Can it just turn invisible whenever it wants?_

"I don't know. Maybe it can appear and disappear at will or something." Kagome replied, turning her gaze towards the many trees that populated the park, "I wonder if anyone does…"

They sat there together, each lost in their own thoughts. The sun was peeking over the horizon when Kagome finally said, "We'd better get going. It would be bad if the park ranger or someone found us here. They'd ask too many questions."

"Yeah, we should go." He looked troubled, "But be careful, okay? I don't want to end up as a splat on the ground."

Kagome laughed, "I'll be careful." They grabbed onto each other, and off they went. Kagome kept lower to the ground this time, for Inuyasha's sake.


	11. Hiatus For One

_**Resinous Commiphora: **Sorry about the whole 'two weeks without a new chapter' thing. I just forgot to mention that I would be busy... so there. Anyway, uh... I can't think of anything else to say. Oh wait! Some of you have been asking what Resinous Commiphora means, so you must want to know, right? Well, I'm not telling. It doesn't have a special meaning or anything, though. I was just trying to figure out what I should put as my pen-name, and spotted some random words on a website I was reading. They sounded interesting together, so I used them. Meaningless names are kind of an inside joke I have with myself. Anyway, Enjoy this slightly-longer-than-usual chapter of Lady Infinity!  
_

* * *

**Lady Infinity…Chapter Eleven**

**Hiatus For One  
**

* * *

They landed in a remote area close to Kagome's house. Immediately, Inuyasha's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, "Wow, I forgot I had this thing on me." He answered, "Hello?" 

Kagome couldn't quite make out what the person on the other end was saying, but she could tell he was angry. "Who is it," she inquired.

Inuyasha held up his finger and silenced her. "Sesshoma-" he was interrupted by another string of loud words. "Sesshomaru, listen!" The phone went silent, "We didn't trash the house! Someone broke in. Kagome and I barely escaped with our lives."

Kagome strained to catch what Sesshomaru said in reply… and failed.

"Uh huh," Inuyasha looked nervous; he tugged at his shirt collar with his free hand. "Yeah, we were both very upset afterwards." He paused and listened, then, "No, I didn't call the police."

Kagome and Inuyasha both jumped as Sesshomaru began yelling again. Inuyasha held the phone away from his ear until it became quiet. "I was in shock! It was scary being chased around by a band of thugs with guns!"

_Funny how one man turned into a band of thugs._

Inuyasha continued, "We just went to some park and sat out the night. I completely forgot about my cell phone until it you called just now." He listened to something, then, "No, I'm not lying. You can even ask Kagome. She was there too, remember."

After a few more words, Inuyasha muttered a goodbye into the phone and hung up. He slipped the cell back into his pocket and turned to Kagome, "Well, you just heard our story. Make sure you tell the same thing to your parents, too, and the police, if they question you."

"My parents…" Kagome's face changed instantly, "My parents! They must be worried to death! Inuyasha, we have to go to my house right now."

----------

Kagome opened the front door of her house and stepped inside; Inuyasha following close behind. She was greeted by the frantic cries of her mother. "Kagome, oh Kagome, where have you been?"

Kagome's hugged her mother and began the story she and Inuyasha had agreed upon, "Well, I was…"

"No, it's ok, we'll talk later. Right now just let me hold you."

Inuyasha closed the door quietly behind him and stood there (awkwardly) for some time before Kagome's father and brother appeared and opened conversation once more.

Sota began, "Kagome, you're home! Mom and Dad wouldn't tell me where you went. Why are you so dirty?"

"Hush, Sota," Kagome's father interrupted, "Let's just be glad Kagome's home for now. I'm sure everything will come out eventually."

Unsatisfied, Sota began questioning Inuyasha, "Inuyasha, why are you here?"

"I was with Kagome,"

"Why were you with Kagome, did you kidnap her?"

Inuyasha managed to hold back his laughter, but couldn't hold back a smile. "No, of course not, why would I kidnap Kagome?"

"I don't know, because you love her?"

Inuyasha's face turned bright red. Luckily, nobody heard what Sota said (he'd kinda mumbled it); even more luckily, nobody saw Inuyasha's reaction. Even Sota had turned back towards Kagome just after he finished his sentence.

Inuyasha regained his composure just as Kagome's mother regained her senses and invited him to stay and have breakfast with them.

"Sure, I'll stay." Inuyasha secretly wanted to leave, but knew Kagome would be more comfortable if he didn't.

----------

Inuyasha ran up and opened the door; a little bell went off somewhere. He stood aside and let Kagome enter first. "Thank you, Inuyasha," she said.

"No problem," he replied.

The girl behind the counter heard the bell go off and automatically greeted them, "Welcome to Murphy's Slurpy Coffee! Oh, Inuyasha and Kagome, it's you. I haven't seen you in a few days."

"Yeah," Inuyasha answered her, "We've been busy." They walked up to the counter. Inuyasha studied the menu posted on the wall while Kagome chatted with Sango.

"Sango, did you hear about the tornado at our school last week?" It had been almost a week since then; Kagome's leg was healing nicely (it didn't look like a mummy anymore).

Sango's interest was immediately aroused. "I heard about that. There was furniture raining down on your volleyball game, right?"

"Watermelons, too, and wine glasses," Inuyasha interjected. "By the way, I'll have a mint-chocolate cappuccino, please."

"Sure," Sango began preparing it immediately. She was good at her job, so she could talk while she worked. "You know, I was near your school around the time the tornado hit."

"Really," Kagome and Inuyasha both said in unison, both thinking the same thing.

"Yeah, really, but I didn't see anything."

_Good, that means she didn't see me fighting that guy._ Kagome could see that Inuyasha was relieved, too. "You must have just missed it," she said.

Sango handed Inuyasha his cappuccino. There was so much whipped cream, Kagome almost made a joke, but decided against it.

"I guess I did."

"Did what," Kagome asked.

"Missed it, duh," Sango smiled, "Aren't you paying attention?"

"Yes, I am. I was just entranced by Inuyasha's cappuccino. Could I have one, too?"

"Sure," Sango began making another. "You know, something else interesting happened to me on the day that tornado hit. Right near your school, actually."

Kagome and Inuyasha looked at each other. If Sango knew, they would have a problem: Sango was a bit of a gossip.

Sango's smile grew larger, "I met someone. He'd just been beat up by a group of thugs, and I rescued him."

"Wow, no kidding!" She studied Sango's face again, "They must have been pretty weak if you beat them all up without getting a scratch." She turned towards Inuyasha, "What is it!?" He'd been nudging her leg with his foot; it was annoying.

Inuyasha looked at the counter, "Nothing. Forget it."

Sango continued, "Anyway, I was just going to tell you: The punks were already gone when I got there. I was going to go after them, but he didn't remember how they looked. It all happened so fast, all he'd been able to do was rip a mask off of one of them (they were wearing masks; how cowardly is that?)."

Kagome looked at Inuyasha; she knew what he'd been trying to tell her. _The man Sango saved was the same masked man that I beat up: The one with the powers!_ _That's how he got away so fast! _"What happened to him," Kagome asked, trying to sound innocent.

"That's the good part," Sango handed Kagome her cappuccino, which, if it was possible, had more whipped cream than Inuyasha's.

Silence.

"…Yes?" Inuyasha asked.

Sango grinned very wide, "He's living in my apartment!"

"What!?" Kagome and Inuyasha erupted simultaneously (again).

She frowned, "Hold on a second until I tell you the whole story!"

Kagome sipped her cappuccino, Inuyasha threw his empty coffee cup away; they were both silent.

"Ok, this is what happened: I was supposed to just help him to the bus station, because he didn't want to go to the hospital. The trip to the bus station was _not_ fun, but we finally got there… and found out that the next bus wasn't going to arrive for an hour or something." She paused to take a breath and continued, "Anyway, since we were both tired, I offered to just let him come to my apartment to rest since it was closer than the next nearest bus station."

"Why didn't you just call an ambulance," Inuyasha wondered aloud.

Sango put her hands on her hips, "Because, to tell the truth, he was kind of good looking, so I wanted to take a few shots of him."

"Oh," Inuyasha said; Kagome nodded in agreement. They both understood now.

Sango believed herself to be a prodigy photographer. She also believed that if she took at least one picture of anything she felt even the slightest urge to take a picture of, she would eventually become famous. Sometimes this urge was fun, like when she just _had_ to have a picture of a pigeon one day and chased it all around the park while Kagome and Inuyasha looked on and laughed. Sometimes, however, it was not fun, like when she was convinced that she would never be famous unless she got a photo of an oncoming train; that was certainly not a fun memory for Inuyasha, who had had to pull her out of the way when she forgot where she was. Obviously then, she would even allow a total stranger into her apartment just to snap a few portraits of him if she felt she had to.

Sango picked up where she left off, "Anyway, the trip to my apartment building was harder-he was pretty beat up-but we finally got there… only to find the elevator out of order."

Kagome opened her mouth in disbelief, "That's some bad luck! How long did you have to wait for the elevator repairman to come out and fix it?" She tossed her empty cup at the garbage can and missed.

As she walked over to retrieve it and dispose of it properly, Sango answered her question, "Well here's the thing: At this point, we were both pretty angry at the world; we weren't about to give up because of a few flights of stairs."

_A few flights?_ Kagome looked at Inuyasha: They both knew that Sango's apartment was on the 20th floor.

Sango sensed what they were thinking, "You guys weren't there. We were so pumped up, we were going to get to my apartment if it was the last thing we did." She sighed, slumped down onto the counter, and rested her head on her hand, "We almost made it, too."

Inuyasha broke in, "What do you mean, 'almost'?"

"Let me finish," Sango sounded angry, probably because she was still mad that they had been defeated by the stairs. "We were about to reach the 19th floor landing when Miroku-that's his name, by the way-lost his footing and fell!"

"No! Is he okay?" Kagome leaned in closer to hear the conclusion.

"He just fell down that one flight of stairs, which was really lucky. What wasn't lucky was that he broke both his legs."

Kagome let out a small "ah!" Inuyasha made a face, "That's horrible," he said.

"Isn't it?" Sango was smiling. "It's good for me, though. I convinced him that I thought it was my fault and that I wouldn't be able to live if he didn't let me take care of him while he healed. As a result, I've been taking pictures of him every day since then!" She clapped her hands, as if she expected them to congratulate her on taking him hostage.

Kagome thought for a second about how to approach the subject she wanted to approach, but was beat to the punch by Inuyasha.

"Do you think the guy's dangerous? I mean, does he do anything weird?" He tried to sound concerned for her safety.

"Oh no, heavens no! He's done nothing but lie on my couch, watch my TV, and talk to me when I start up a conversation. I don't think he's dangerous at all."

Kagome picked up where Inuyasha left off, "Does he have any quirks at all, like does he mumble to himself or… uh… steal things?"

Sango seemed to ponder this for a second, then replied, "I don't think he has any quirks. There was this one time that I could have sworn I put a newspaper on the table next to him before I went to the bathroom, but when I got back it was gone. Is that weird? Oh my God, you think he stole my newspaper?"

They said nothing; she laughed.

----------

"The forecast for tomorrow is… high of… seventy-three… sunny… winds from the northwest at… five… miles per hour. Tune in for your next local forecast in… ten… minutes."

The robotic voice on the television was annoying, so he changed the channel.

"You don't mean…" The woman on the screen walked toward a man in an orange tie. "You… you _ate_ her!? Oh my God, NOOO!" The woman attempted to flee, but the door was locked. She screamed as the man walked towards her.

He changed the channel; horror was not his thing.

"Oh Jessica, oh Jessica, how I long to caress your sweet, sweet face." The man on the television reached out and touched the picture he was holding. There was a close-up of the picture, which was of an ugly woman with ugly teeth and ugly hair.

"Oh God, what the heck is up with that?" He changed the channel again. "Isn't there anything on?" He flipped the channel a few more times, and stopped on a show that looked-at least a little-like it might turn out to be-at least slightly-interesting.

"Observe as the zebra attempts to flee the cheetah."

He observed.

"Observe as the cheetah rips out the zebra's jugular and feast's on its… flesh…?"

He observed again, though the narrator's sudden change of voice made him wonder if this was a commercial.

"Uh, there appears to be something wrong with this footage. George, you'd better come see this."

_What the heck? How did this end up on TV? Someone's fired._

Another man's voice could now be heard, "What _is_ that? That wasn't there when we shot this footage!"

Miroku could now see what George and the narrator were talking about. As the cheetah feasted upon the zebra, what looked to be a small man (he wasn't quite sure) was sneaking up behind the cheetah.

There were many voices speaking now, the original narrator's lost among them. Miroku concentrated on the TV as the little… whatever it was drew closer and closer to the kill site. Now there was a close-up of the scene. Miroku could hear the surprise in the voices of the narrators (if you could still call them that).

There was a clear shot of the thing that was creeping up on the cheetah and its meal, and Miroku _still_ couldn't tell what it was. It almost looked to him like some kind of goblin… thing. A voice began yelling over the others on the TV, it appeared to belong to a supervisor, because everyone else grew quiet. "Nancy, I want you to find out who was on site that day and bring them in for questioning. Bob, make a copy of this and have it on my desk in an hour. Everyone else, get back to work!"

All at once, the screen went black. After a few seconds, it popped back to what looked like a newsroom. A well-dressed man sitting at a desk addressed the camera, "And there you have it. This tape was only released to this news program, thanks to a disgruntled employee who believed it was being covered up. What was that creature on the video tape? We have with us now an expert who thinks he knows." The reporter turned to his right as the camera zoomed out, revealing an extremely overweight woman wearing tiny, black glasses. "Dr. Rita Coppley, you say you know what this is?"

"Yes, Heath, I do. It's a… well, I'm not exactly sure how to pronounce this, but here, read it for yourself."

Reporter Heath looked off to one side, "I'm sorry, I thought Dr. Coppley came up with this herself?" Someone spoke back at him from off-camera. Miroku couldn't make out what he said. "Oh, I see. Ok, can we get a shot of this book for the viewers at home?"

A page from some book now appeared on-screen. On it was a picture of a creature that looked exactly like the one from the video. Under it was written "GURRGHL"

Heath spoke up, "Wow, that looks exactly like the creature we just saw. And I'm not sure I can pronounce that, either. Is it 'Girl'? Oh, I see. It's 'Gurgle', thank you, Steve." The video went back to Heath sitting at his desk, alone now. "Everyone give a big hand to Steve, our resident linguist. Where would we be without him?" He looked around. "It seems Dr. Coppley has left. Yes." Turning back to the camera, "Well, we here at World News Center are trying to get the extended tape of that creature to show to you, our viewers, so please stay tuned for updates."

The camera stayed on Reporter Heath's face for a few more seconds, then cut to a commercial.

Miroku turned off the TV. His heart was beating fast. He was almost positive he had seen that creature somewhere before. "Was it in a dream?" He thought so, maybe. He wished he could look more up online, but, sadly, the girl he was staying with was a technophobe or something: She didn't have a computer.

He shifted his legs around, "Ouch, stupid broken legs." took a sip from a glass of water he had next to him, and closed his eyes, hoping he would somehow be able to sleep for a few hours. Staying in this apartment was boring as Hell. He regretted ever having agreed to it.

He dreamed about the creature. It was his waitress at a restaurant he was at. He was confused in his dream, because he was convinced (in his dream, at least) that the creature was male. It set his order, steak surprise with a side of asparagus, down on the table with a clang, then picked it up and set it down again with another clang, and another, and another…

He woke up.

He heard the clang again, which was apparently caused by something knocking against the window. _God, I hate it when dreams tie in things like that._ He rubbed his eyes and looked over, expecting to see window washers or a crazy bird… not what he actually did see, which was the waitress from his dream; only this wasn't a dream. It was really there, outside the 20th floor window.

Smiling at him.


	12. Elevators and Stuff

_**Resinous Commiphora: **Today's chapter is a day early. Yipee! Anyway, last chapter's whole Miroku-watching-TV scene was a lot of fun to write. If I was Miroku, I would have stopped on the horror movie, but whatever. Oh, and I know this might be a little unorthodox, but if anyone has any questions that they want answered (about the story, I mean), feel free to ask them in your review. I'll answer (probably in the next chapter's A/N) what I can, even if I have to make it up on the spot, which is what I usually do with the story anyway, so it won't be that hard... hopefully.  
_

* * *

**Lady Infinity…Chapter Twelve**

**Elevators and Stuff  
**

* * *

Miroku watched in horror as the GURRGHL ran its fingernail along the outside of the window. _Why is that thing here? Isn't it in Africa or something?_ But deep down, he was sure he had known that it would come for him. Deep down, he had known… somehow. 

He looked around quickly for something—anything—he could use to defend himself if it broke through the glass. There was nothing.

The thing, which appeared to be very excited, laughed. Miroku got goose bumps. He decided that here was not a good place to be. He griped the couch's armrest and lowered his feet onto the ground. It was a little awkward, because the casts stopped just past his heel, but not awkward enough to stop his attempt at escaping from… that.

He slowly lifted himself from the couch and rested most of his weight on the armrest. _Why the HELL didn't I take the crutches like that nice nurse told me to? Did I really think I wouldn't move at all during the entire time it would take my leg to heal?_

"H… hello…" the creature said from outside the window. It was waving now. Miroku looked back over his shoulder and didn't take his eyes off it, even as he attempted to wean himself from the support of the armrest.

"You can talk?" Miroku's mouth dropped open. He wasn't surprised to find it outside a 20th story window, so why the hell was he surprised that it could talk, because it didn't talk in his dreams? He thought so, maybe. At any rate, he wanted to stall it with talking so he could make his escape.

"Of course… stupid," the GURRGHL drummed its nails on the glass.

He almost had his balance now; he tried to remember how many steps away the door was without turning his head around to look. _Was it about…seven? Eight?_ Out loud, he said, "Ok, since you can talk, how about you tell me why you're here? You must have a reason."

It ran a single nail along the glass; the noise produced made Miroku cringe. "I am here… because you are… delicious."

Miroku had to think about that a second before he could respond. "Uhh… so you want to eat me?" He edged backward slightly as he said this.

"Why shouldn't I…?" The thing smiled, "You have… marked yourself… as a delicacy… hehehe…" It licked its lips with what looked to be a tongue.

Miroku took another tiny step backward, still resting partly on the armrest. "When did I do that? What are you anyway, some sort of evil demon?"

Miroku's high school experience had been rather bad. He'd been picked on heavily, and, as a result, had made some 'questionable' friends. They'd done all sorts of things together, like séances. Miroku didn't remember any 'mark yourself as a delicacy for demon consumption' ceremonies, but he wanted to make sure.

"Not a demon… silly…" It studied Miroku, as if to decide which part would be tastiest.

Miroku felt its eyes all over him and he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

All at once, he pushed off of the armrest and made a dash for the door. The thing shrieked and smashed through the window. It landed on the floor just as he reached the door. He could hear glass crunching as he grabbed the doorknob. He could hear it laughing as he jerked open the door. He staggered through and shut the door behind him. He didn't think it was tall enough (or smart enough) to use the doorknob itself, but he wasn't about to wait and find out.

He half ran, half wobbled toward the elevator area, which was a few doors down. He was breathing hard. There was another noise though, besides his breathing, his wobbling, and the creature's shrieking laughter; it was the sound of metal being shredded.

Miroku reached the elevators and pressed the little down-arrow button. He waited impatiently as the number displayed above the elevator on the right began moving upwards from one; the number of the one on the left was going down from five.

He thought he could hear the GURRGHL's laughter a little clearer now, as if it had already made a small hole in the metal door. He pressed the little button again, and then again. The right elevator continued its slow climb; the left one had reached the bottom floor. _Did elevators always take this long?_

He looked back towards the door to Sango's apartment: Little metal shavings littered the ground. He was sure the creature was making progress now. How fast it was going he couldn't tell. It was only a matter of time before it broke through.

He had to get on that elevator.

He looked back at the displays, "Come on you stupid elevators!" The right one was now somewhere around floor 16. "Thank God! It's almost here!"

It stopped on 17. Miroku stared in horror as the number didn't climb to 18, like it should have, but fell back down to 16. It wasn't coming up for him! "No!" He pressed the down-arrow button a few more times, as if that would call it back.

He heard something that sounded like an "Aha!" and turned back toward Sango's apartment door again. The top of the thing's head was sticking out of the hole it had made. A singe eye stared at Miroku. It seemed to say, "I almost have you."

Miroku glanced at the number above the left elevator again: 12. He pressed the button yet again, and looked at the number above the right elevator: 12. _What the Hell? Who designed these stupid elevators? I hope he dies!_ As he was hoping this, the right elevator's number increased to 13, then 14, then 15.

There was a squeal from Sango's door. Miroku looked over just in time to see the creature's entire torso pop through the now-larger hole. It chomped its teeth a few times and made a weird lip-smacking noise that sounded to Miroku more like the noise a brain-sucking alien might make than anything else.

He quickly glanced back at the two numbers once again. Left: 7, right: 18. _Please make it!_ Was his only thought, it went through his head over and over and over. He even started mumbling it out loud as the creature popped out of the hole in Sango's door and landed in the hallway. It ran at him, making the most disgusting gurgling noise Miroku had ever heard.

At that moment, Miroku knew that even though the elevator was about to open its doors, the creature would make it inside before the doors could shut again. He knew that he had to give some sort of last stand… or die. So he did the only thing he could think of: He shot out his hands and sucked it up.

It made a sort of gasp as it disappeared into his hands.

"Oh my God, it worked!" But deep down, he knew it hadn't; it had gotten rid of the GURRGHL for now, but it wasn't trapped in his hands like anything normal would have been. It would reappear at some other place, at some other time, and come after him again. Somehow he knew that his powers had no effect on it.

A noise came from behind him. _It's already back?_ He spun around: Sango was standing there. The noise was probably caused by a bag of groceries, which she had dropped on the ground in surprise.

"Oh, uh…" Miroku couldn't think of what to say. How much had she seen? Should he just suck her up now and get her out of the way? No, he would never suck _her_ up; she'd been nice to him… in her own way.

"Sango, what's wrong?" A voice issued from the elevator, a girl's voice. _One of Sango's friends?_

Miroku looked at Sango with the saddest eyes he could produce and mouthed, "I'll explain later." He hoped she would take the hint and come up with some excuse to tell her friend, who obviously hadn't seen anything.

She understood. "Oh, nothing, I was just surprised to see Miroku up and about. I thought you couldn't walk without crutches, Miroku?" She sounded nervous; Miroku hoped her friend couldn't tell.

The girl stepped out of the elevator: She was wearing some ugly green shirt with pink polka-dots on it. He was about to say something to lighten up the mood when a boy (he looked to be about the same age as the girl) appeared, apparently also from the elevator.

"Uh, hello," Miroku managed a wave.

"Hiya," the girl said, she didn't seem very friendly. The boy didn't even acknowledge Miroku at all.

Sango regained some self control and introduced them. "Miroku, these are two of my best friends: Kagome," she pointed toward the girl, "and Inuyasha," she motioned toward the boy. She addressed them now, "Kagome, Inuyasha, this is Miroku, the guy I was telling you about."

"Yeah, I guessed that," Inuyasha said. Miroku decided he didn't like Inuyasha. The verdict was still out on the girl; he could take a lot from a girl—as long as she was good looking, and this one was.

"So, uh, Miroku," Sango clapped her hands (obviously trying to be cheerful), "What were you, uh, doing out here in the hallway?"

Miroku wished she hadn't asked that question. _Why didn't she just think up some excuse to get us all back in the elevator?_ His brain worked fast; he decided to go with the truth. Well, _almost_ the truth. "I was fleeing for my life just before you got here."

Kagome and Inuyasha's mouths dropped open. _They probably think I'm insane. Good. Then they'll feel bad later and try to be nice to me._

"Uh, Miroku," Sango laughed nervously, "What do you mean, 'Fleeing for your life'?" She blinked.

"I mean just that. You see, there was this man—a big, ugly man—and he broke into Sango's apartment just now. I ran away, of course, but he chased me. When the elevator arrived, he got scared and ran for the stairs. He's probably gone by now, though." He leaned against the wall; it was hard standing up on broken legs.

Inuyasha looked doubtful, "You don't seem very freaked out."

"Well, he wasn't exactly robbing _my_ house, so I wasn't freaked out about that, and I'm a champion in Aikido—which is a martial art, by the way—so I wasn't too freaked out about being attacked, because the guy didn't even have a weapon, not that that would have mattered." Miroku tried to look like he knew what he was talking about.

All throughout this little storytelling session, Sango had been looking towards her door. She didn't want to interrupt, so she waited until Miroku was done. But then, she ran over to her door (which had a large hole in it, remember) and let out a little scream.

As Sango was frantically trying to find her key and open her door, Miroku felt he'd better explain away the hole, so he did. "Yeah, the guy had metal boots on. He must have kicked a hole in the door before he opened it."

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered so that Sango couldn't hear her, "go in with Sango. I want to stay out here and have a little chat with Miroku."

_Uh… about what?_ Miroku didn't like this. He tried to make a move for the door once Sango and Inuyasha were already through, but Kagome blocked his path.

"Look, pal, I don't expect Sango to doubt your story. She's a little crazy right now." Kagome looked towards the door, then back at him. "But I don't buy it one bit. For one, how in the heck could a guy wearing metal boots _scrape_ a hole in a two-inch-thick metal door?"

Miroku opened his mouth, and said nothing.

"Two, why would a burglar bother to _lock_ the door after him, and three, how did a 'big, ugly man', as you put it, manage to leave little, tiny, CLAW marks all over the carpet?" With this, she pointed down. Miroku followed her finger and saw, for the first time, the inch-deep gouges in the floor. They were definitely from something much smaller than a grown man's foot.

But what confused Miroku the most was how none of this was freaking Kagome out. She seemed to be totally fine with the claw marks and the hole in the door. "Uh, I don't see how an animal or something could have gotten up here and made those… maybe the metal boots had… uh… razors on them?"

All at once, Miroku smashed up against the wall. He couldn't move! "Hey! What the Hell?" He struggled with all his might, but couldn't even budge.

Kagome leaned towards Miroku and said, "I guess you don't remember me, Tornado Boy, but I sure remember you. And if what happened here is what I think happened here, then something has to happen."

_What the Hell, how did _she_ get here?_ Out loud, he said, "I do remember you, Watermelon Girl." He smiled, "But if you think I did anything here, you're wrong." That part, at least, was true.

Kagome crossed her arms and said, "You did do something, didn't you?" She looked confused. "I mean, you sucked it up, didn't you?"

Miroku's face froze. How in the Hell did she know? He opened his mouth to say this, but no noise came out, only a kind of squeak. His mouth opened and closed, but no sounds were materialized.

"I was right, wasn't I? Now listen: I don't know why you attacked my school, maybe you had a good reason, but if you do anything like that ever again, I'll find you. I think you realize now that my power is a little better than yours, don't you?"

Miroku nodded and felt himself being released from the wall.

"Ah, that's better. It's hard being the interrogator." Kagome relaxed. "One final question, though: How much does Sango know?"

"She saw me suck it up," Miroku answered, "just as she left the elevator back there."

Kagome sighed, "We should probably tell her everything, then. Actually, that makes things a little easier. Now we can all talk openly about it, and about what we're going to do next."

"Do… next?"

Kagome took a step towards him, "Of course. I don't know about you, but I personally don't enjoy being chased around by that thing all the time." She offered him her arm for support. He took it, and together they walked into Sango's trashed apartment.


End file.
